Always up to date: news from Schweizer Electronic.

2019

• Order book stable at 164.2 million euro• EBITDA at -0.1 million euro• EBIT reduced to -1.7 million euro

Schramberg, May 09, 2019 – The SCHWEIZER Group achieved a turnover of 29.1 million euro in the first quarter 2019 (2018: 31.8 million euro), which corresponds to a turnover decline of 8.5 percent. The drop in demand for products from the site in Schramberg in combination with the increasing turnover through our partners in Asia had a noticeable negative impact on the operating profit margin. Due to these effects in connection with the overall turnover decline the gross margin was reduced to 3.3 million euro (2018: 5.4 million euro), which corresponds to a margin of 11.3 percent. The group’s EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation) decreased to -0.1 million euro (2018: 3.5 million euro) and corresponds to an EBITDA margin of -0.4 percent (2018: 10.9 percent). The EBIT (earnings before interest and taxes) shrank to -1.7 million euro (2018: 1.6 million euro), corresponding to an EBIT margin of -5.9 percent (2018: 4.9 percent). Cost increases triggered by start-up losses of the new production site in China as well as by foreign exchange losses resulting from the stake in the Schweizer Electronic (Jiangsu) Co., Ltd., China, contributed to this negative development.

The turnover decline in the first quarter spreads across all customer groups leaving the customer structure almost constant. The automotive sector represented 72 percent of the turnover (2018: 70 percent), industry customers’ share was stable at 22 percent and the segment of other products at 6 percent. Despite the turnover decline the order book remained stable compared to previous year’s period. By the end of March the outstanding orders amounted to 164.2 million euro (2018: 165.4 million euro), of which about 84 million euro are destined for delivery in 2019. By the end of March, the order book for the automotive sector showed a positive development amounting to 147.5 million euro, which is a plus of 8.6 percent compared to last year’s quarter. The order backlog for industry and other segments, however, shrank noticeably.

In order to counteract these developments, SCHWEIZER’s Management Board had started a cost optimisation programme at the beginning of the current business year.

In the first quarter 2019 SCHWEIZER reported sales of 24.3 million euro in Europe, 3.2 million euro in Asia and 1.6 million euro in America and the rest of the world. While sales in Europe and America declined considerably, turnover in Asia increased by 23 percent. A significant shift in the turnover structure was also visible concerning the production site. Turnover achieved through our strategic partners WUS China as well as Meiko Vietnam and China amounted to 8.3 million euro in total, which is more than a doubling compared to the previous year. This is a clear sign of successful production ramp-ups for automobile customers in the high frequency and standard section.

The new high technology plant in Jintan/China is currently under construction and has not yet contributed to the group’s turnover. Start of production and corresponding revenue generation is planned for the first quarter 2020. The construction works are largely on schedule so that this target can be achieved from today’s perspective. The Asian as well as the European sales teams are actively acquiring new customers in order to ensure a smooth start of production at the beginning of 2020.

SCHWEIZER’s balance sheet figures and the operative cash flow remain at a solid level. Due to the first quarter loss, the equity capital was reduced to 61.7 million euro (December 31, 2018: 63.0 million euro), the equity ratio amounted to 44.6 percent (December 31, 2018: 46.6 percent). The operative cash flow amounted to -0.8 million euro in the first quarter 2019. Net gearing remains negative at -3.2 percent.

Breakthrough of the embedding technology and forecast for 2019

One of our central projects is the embedding technology. The embedding of power semiconductors into the printed circuit board offers the customers significant advantages in the field of 48 V board nets enabling the reduction of CO2 emissions. Together with Infineon, SCHWEIZER could win a very important key project with the automotive supplier Continental. Start of mass production is planned for 2021 and will be executed in the production site in Schramberg as well as in SCHWEIZER’s new factory in China.

06.05.2019 | Reducing CO2 in traffic: Continental first player to implement innovative technology from SCHWEIZER and Infineon for 48 V systems

Joint release by Infineon Technologies AG and Schweizer Electronic AG

Schramberg/Munich, Germany – 6 May 2019 – Schweizer Electronic AG and Infineon Technologies AG have developed a new technology for the mild-hybridization of cars: chip embedding for Power MOSFETs. It will significantly improve the performance of 48 V systems while reducing their complexity. Continental Powertrain will be the first player to adopt the technology.

“Embedding Power MOSFETs will open a new chapter of possibilities for the electrification of mild hybrid cars,” said Dr. Rolf Merte, CEO at Schweizer Electronic. “The fact that one of the world’s leading automotive suppliers has chosen our technology confirms its potential.”

With chip embedding, the Power MOSFETs are no longer soldered onto a circuit board but integrated within. ”The resulting thermal benefits allow a higher power density and board integration enables further improvements in system reliability” said Dr. Frank Findeis, who is heading Infineon’s automotive MOSFET business. “These advantages result in higher power or more cost effective 48 V systems.”

As a first application, Continental Powertrain has decided to implement the new technology in a 48 V starter generator for vehicles from a major European carmaker.“Chip embedding allows us to increase electrical power by 60 percent compared to a traditionally designed system,” said Dietmar Vogt, System Technical Project Leader at Continental Powertrain.

48 V starter generators are a key contributor to the CO2 reduction of up to about 15 percent achieved by a mild hybrid vehicle compared to a conventional drive train. They allow the engine to be stopped more often and for a longer duration than a 12 V based start-stop-system. Furthermore they can boost acceleration and thus reduce load on the combustion engine. During braking they recover more of the kinetic energy than a 12 V system.

Infineon contributes its leading MOSFET technology OptiMOS™5 to the new approach, SCHWEIZER its embedding power PCB technology called Smart p² Pack®. The partners plan to start mass production in 2021.

• Turnover rose to 125.3 million euro• EBITDA improved by 9.5 percent to 9.2 million euro • Order book came up to 171.2 million euro

Schramberg, April 17, 2019 – The SCHWEIZER Group closed the accounts in 2018 with a turnover growth of 3.7 percent to 125.3 million euro (2017: 120.9 million euro). The final group EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation) amounted to 9.2 million euro (2017: 8.4 million euro), corresponding to an EBITDA margin of 7.3 percent against 7.0 percent the year before. The group EBIT (earnings before interest and taxes) amounted to 1.6 million euro (2017: 0.3 million euro) and corresponds to an EBIT margin of 1.3 percent (2017: 0.3 percent). In the light of the comprehensive investments into the new high technology plant in China, SCHWEIZER’s Supervisory and Executive Boards will suggest a dividend omission on occasion of the forthcoming Annual General Meeting on June 28, 2019, in order to put the funds thus released into our growth investment in China.

Gross profit amounted to 18.6 million euro (2017: 19.0 million euro), the gross margin thus decreased to 14.8 percent. This decrease is mainly due to the fast rising share of the merchandise bought from our partners, which increased by 117 percent to 24.5 million euro while our in-house production decreased by 8 percent to 100.8 million euro. A weaker utilisation of own capacities burdened the profitability of SCHWEIZER’s inhouse-production in the fourth quarter. The order book amounted to 171.2 million euro (2017: 181.5 million euro) at the end of fiscal year 2018, of which 108 million euro are destined for delivery in 2019.

SCHWEIZER’s turnover with customers from the automotive sector grew by 4.9 percent to a peak value of 87.9 million euro in 2018, mainly driven by a high dynamic in the first half year, before the economic sentiment in the automotive industry significantly dimmed from late summer 2018 onwards. This development was mainly triggered by factors such as the introduction of the new WLTP emission test method in September 2018 as well as a sharp drop-off in sales of diesel vehicles due to the realisation of diesel traffic bans in several inner cities and the sudden slump of sales on the worldwide biggest automotive market China. Business with customers from the industry sector developed pleasingly. Typical applications of this customer group are detection, sensor technology and plant control systems. Turnover in this segment amounted to 30.5 million euro, which is equivalent to an increase of 8.2 percent compared to 2017. The industry customer group thus represents 24.3 percent of SCHWEIZER’s group turnover.

The export ratio increased from 40.2 percent to 44.3 percent in the last fiscal year with Germany remaining by far the most important sales region. Despite a slight decline, the turnover in Germany amounted to 69.8 million euro (2017: 72.3 million euro), representing 55.7 percent of the group turnover. The decline in Germany was more than compensated by a sales increase of 7.2 million euro to 35.6 million euro in Europe, so that the turnover share from Europe including Germany rose to 84.1 percent. With a turnover of 9.4 million euro in Asia and 10.1 million euro in America, both regions remained almost stable.

Also last year, the trend towards technologically sophisticated printed circuit boards from the areas of power electronics and system cost reduction continued. Revenues from this technology segment increased by 19 percent, while volumes of the standard segment were down by just under 18 percent.

The significant increase of the production volumes with SCHWEIZER’s partners WUS in China and Meiko in Vietnam by in total 117 percent is due to the start of important projects in the field of high frequency printed circuit boards (PCBs) with WUS and standard PCBs with Meiko. Turnover generated with these partners now amounts to 20 percent of the total turnover of the SCHWEIZER group.

In view of the significant overall economic, sector-specific and political uncertainties, our turnover expectation for the current business year ranges between -5 and +5 percent compared to 2018. This corresponds to a turnover range of about 120 to 130 million euro. While expecting sales increases at our strategic partners WUS in China and Meiko in Vietnam, triggered by product starts for our automotive customers, we anticipate a weaker development for products from Schramberg, which can affect all customer groups. Since start of production in Jintan is planned for the beginning of 2020, no turnover contributions are expected from this site for 2019. The anticipated start-up losses due to the construction and putting into operation of the new Jintan plant will burden the result in 2019. Therefore, we expect an EBITDA margin of between 4 – 6 percent in 2019, which is equivalent to an EBITDA of between 5 and 7 million euro. Without the negative contribution from the ramp up of the pant in China, the anticipated EBITDA margin lies between 7 and 9 percent.

The annual report for the year 2018 is available on http://www.schweizer.ag/de/investorrelations/finanzberichte.html. An English version of this report will be available soon.

2018

• Turnover growth of 5.3 percent in the first nine months of 2018 • EBITDA jumped by 55 percent to 9.3 million euro in the nine-month period • Expected turnover growth for Fiscal Year 2018 is between 2 – 3 percent

Schramberg, November 09, 2018 – The SCHWEIZER Group closed the first nine months of the fiscal year 2018 with a turnover growth of 5.3 percent to 96.7 million euro (2017: 91.8 million euro). The EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation) jumped by 55 percent to 9.3 million euro (2017: 6.0 million euro), corresponding to an EBITDA ratio of 9.7 percent.

The third quarter 2018 has been the strongest in this fiscal year with a growth of 9.7 percent to 32.8 million euro (2017: 29.9 million euro), which is due to the demand from the automotive sector in particular for power electronic solutions. With a clear positioning on the topics CO2 reduction and sensor solutions, it was thus possible to decouple from the overall negative trend of the automotive industry. As a consequence, sales with automotive customers increased by 15.2 percent to 23.5 million euro, corresponding to almost 72 percent of the total turnover. Business with the other customer groups from the fields of industry electronics, consumer electronics and communications remained almost unchanged and amounted to 28.4 percent of the total turnover in the reporting period.

The turnover growth of 2.9 million euro was achieved exclusively in Europe. In total, SCHWEIZER generated 86.0 percent of the turnover in Europe, 8.2 percent in Asia and 5.8 percent in the US as well as the rest of the world. In preparation for the new production site in China, intensive measures are underway in order to tap the Asian markets. Sales generated through the Asian partners WUS Kunshan and Meiko Electronics more than doubled in the third quarter and represent almost a quarter of the group turnover. Therefore, the gross margin declined by 1.0 million euro compared to previous year’s quarter and amounted to 4.6 million euro, corresponding to 14.1 percent (2017: 18.8 percent). In total, profit targets were achieved and previous year’s profits exceeded. The EBITDA of the third quarter amounted to 2.7 million euro (2017: 2.4 million euro), corresponding to an EBITDA ratio of 8.2 percent.

Compared to previous year’s quarter, the EBIT (earnings before interest and taxes) doubled to 0.8 million euro. In the nine-month period of the fiscal year 2018, the EBIT amounted to 3.6 million euro (2017: 0.0 million euro), but it has to be considered that negative special effects amounting to 2.5 million euro burdened the EBIT in 2017.

At the end of the third quarter the order book amounted to 169.1 million euro (2017: 172.0 million). A slowdown of incoming orders in the months August and September becomes visible here, which is due to the current uncertainty in the automotive sector.

The construction works for the new production site in China started on time in August this year. The production capacity in Jintan will be set up within three investment phases, with each phase providing the current production capacity of the site in Schramberg. Production is to start at the beginning of 2020.

Forecast

Declining sales figures in the automotive market triggered amongst others by bottlenecks in the exhaust gas test procedures, by existing and potential trade conflicts between leading economic regions as well as uncertainties concerning imminent bans on diesel vehicles, currently burden the atmosphere in particular in the German automotive industry. Apart from the slowdown of incoming orders we also see a trend of customers shifting their order call-offs from the fourth quarter 2018 to the following business year. Based on the current expectations for the business development in the fourth quarter, the Management Board of Schweizer Electronic AG lowered the turnover forecast for the total fiscal year 2018 to around 124.0 million euro, which corresponds to a growth of 2 to 3 percent (previous growth forecast: plus 6 to 8 percent).

Schramberg, October 09, 2018 – The Board of Schweizer Electronic AG once again consists of three members. SCHWEIZER’s Supervisory Board appointed Dr. Rolf Merte as a member of the company’s Executive Board for the period of five years and designated him as its new Chairman with effect from October 8, 2018.

Born in Marburg but for longer than a decade deeply rooted in the Black-Forest, Rolf Merte already looks back on a longstanding international career in research as well as in industry, where he had held top management positions at global market leaders from the technology sector. After studying theoretical electrical engineering at the Technical University of Berlin, he initially dedicated himself to research for instance at the CERN in the canton of Geneva/Switzerland, in Stanford/USA and in Berlin, where he received a doctoral degree in the year 2000. Following his research activities, his industrial career with globally operating technology companies started in the research centre of ABB AG, Heidelberg and lead him through various senior management positions, such as Product Group Manager at BERU AG, today BorgWarner, Vice President at Hüttinger Elektronik GmbH & CoKG, Freiburg, today Trumpf-Hüttinger, as well as Executive Vice President at SMA Solar Technology AG. As Member of the Board of Testo SE & Co KGaA, he had most recently held responsible for the company’s technology and supply chain areas. Furthermore, he gained extensive experiences as Managing Director of various European and Asian group subsidiaries.

In view of the huge investment in China and the forthcoming market introduction of the embedding technology, Dr. Merte will make a significant contribution to the successful implementation of SCHWEIZER’s company strategy, and together with his board colleagues Nicolas Schweizer and Marc Bunz he will drive forward the company’s internationalisation and the path of growth. “Dr. Merte has an excellent international network of contacts and an above-average mix of industry sector experiences, which is of utmost importance for SCHWEIZER’s diversified business fields,” says Michael Kowalski, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Schweizer Electronic AG. And he continues, “Thanks to his long-standing experience in our target markets, precisely the automotive supply industry and the electrical energy conversion and storage, he has comprehensive application knowledge and understands the requirements of SCHWEIZER’s present and particularly the future customers. Besides his technological expertise in the fields of power electronics, high frequency and high temperature electronics, his competencies in international organisational development and his experiences in the Asian market, of course, are essential for the implementation of our growth strategy and beyond. He is a perfect fit for the job and for SCHWEIZER. The Supervisory Board and myself, as well as the Executive Board, are very happy for having been able to recruit him”.

Dr. Rolf Merte, Chief Executive Officer of Schweizer Electronic AG looks forward to his new professional challenge. “It is with pleasure that I assume this responsible position at Schweizer Electronic AG. From the customer’s perspective, SCHWEIZER has been known to me as innovative and likeable high technology company for many years, and I look forward to this change of sides and the cooperation with the entire team on the one hand as well as to laying down the right tracks together with my colleagues from the Executive Board on the other hand, in order to make this company, which has been successful for 169 years already, sustainably fit for the future and ensure that its success story will continue in a consistent and goal-oriented way”.

About Schweizer Schweizer Electronic AG stands for state-of-the-art technology and consultancy competence. SCHWEIZER’s premium printed circuit boards and innovative solutions and services for automotive, solar, industry and aviation electronics address key challenges in the areas of Power Electronics, Embedding and System Cost Reduction. Its products are distinguished for their superior quality and their energy-saving and environmentally- friendly features. Together with its partners WUS Printed Circuit (Kunshan) Co., Ltd., Meiko Electronics Co. Ltd. and Elekonta Marek GmbH & Co. KG the company offers in its division electronics cost- and production- optimised solutions for small, medium and large series. Together with its partner Infineon Technologies AG, SCHWEIZER plans to jointly tap the chip embedding market in future.

With 797 employees SCHWEIZER achieved sales of 120.9 million euro in Fiscal Year 2017 (ending December). The company was founded by Christoph Schweizer in 1849 and is listed at the Stuttgart and Frankfurt Stock Exchanges (ticker symbol „SCE“, „ISIN DE 000515623“).

10.08.2018 | Schweizer Electronic confirms good figures for the 1st Half Year 2018

EBITDA jumped by 83 percent to 6.6 million euro

Incoming orders rose by almost 20 percent to 76.7 million euro

EBITDA forecast was revised upwards to between 11 and 12 million euro

Schramberg, August 10, 2018 – The SCHWEIZER Group closed the first half year 2018 with a turnover growth to 63.9 million euro (2017: 61.9 million euro). The EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation) jumped to 6.6 million euro (2017: 3.6 million euro), and the EBITDA ratio increased to 10.3 percent (2017: 5.8 percent) in the first half year 2018. The Group EBIT (earnings before interest and taxes) amounted to 2.8 million euro (2017: -0.4 million euro) and thus improved by 3.2 million euro against last year’s period. The group result rose to 1.9 million euro after a loss of 1.1 million euro in the first half year 2017.

The worldwide demand for passive components increased significantly over the last months and has already led to delayed customer call-offs also by SCHWEIZER customers. Despite these bottlenecks concerning passive components, our sales with automotive customers increased by 0.8 million euro to 44.1 million euro. Sales with industry customers grew by 7.7 percent or 1.1 million euro to 15.3 million euro. Total turnover in the second quarter 2018 was particularly strong at SCHWEIZER with a plus of 8.8 percent compared to the previous year’s quarter. We expect further growth in the second half year so that the turnover forecast of slightly below 130 million euro for the fiscal year 2018 is realistic.

SCHWEIZER has established itself as indispensable specialist for power electronics and sensors and thus is a vital partner for its automotive customers when it comes to a cost-optimised and reliable implementation of solutions in the field of electro mobility and CO2 efficiency as well as autonomous driving. Also for customers from industry electronics our technologies play an increasingly important role, so we could benefit from the favourable development in these market segments as well in the first half year 2018. This is impressively reflected by our order income which boosted by almost 20 percent against previous year’s level to 76.7 million euro. Therefore, our order book increased to 185.1 million euro by June 30, 2018 (2017: 160.5 million euro). Orders amounting to about 60 million euro are still to be delivered in 2018, while the order book for 2019 already amounts to more than 100 million euro. The strong demand of customers from the automotive sector followed by applications form industry electronics continues unabated.

Marc Bunz, Chief Financial Officer of Schweizer Electronic AG, comments: ”The current delay of customer call-offs triggered by the bottleneck concerning passive components certainly dampens the outlook. However, SCHWEIZER’s actual order book shows that our turnover target of slightly below 130 million euro for 2018 is realistic, so that we continue to expect the turnover growth of 6 to 8 percent. Based on the good outcome of the first half year in combination with the forecasted burdens triggered by the setting up of the production site in China, we also confirm our expectation for the EBITDA of 11 to 12 million euro for the fiscal year 2018 (prior expectation: 10 million euro). The EBITDA ratio is expected at between 7 and 9 percent, whereby the upper end of the range is rather achievable.“

09.08.2018 | SCHWEIZER lays cornerstone for new production site in Jintan

Schramberg, August 09, 2018 – Accompanied by a festive groundbreaking ceremony and in the presence of the Government of Jintan, Schweizer Electronic AG laid the cornerstone for its new high technology production site in Jintan/Jiangsu Province (China) on August 08, 2018.

Covering a production area of in total 90,000 square metres, the new plant will start operation in 2020 focussing in particular on power electronic and embedding applications for the automotive sector. After completion of the construction phase which is scheduled to last 18 months, the setup of the new production capacities will be carried out in three ramp-up phases, each with a capacity of 1,200 square metres PCBs per day. This is equivalent to the capacity of the Schramberg production site today. The total investment will amount to 150 million euro over the next ten years to enable group sales to jump to up to 500 million euro.

In November 2017 SCHWEIZER had signed a corresponding investment agreement with the Government of Jintan and just one month later founded the new company Schweizer Electronic Jiangsu (China). The official approvals of the Chinese Environmental and Construction Authorities have been obtained and financing of the first two construction phases has already been secured. For the financing two bank consortia were set up in Germany and China, providing credit lines of 120 million US dollar.

Schweizer Electronic AG will continue to develop and manufacture high technology PCBs in its German production site in Schramberg. Using the additional capacities in Jintan, the company will further exploit the world-wide market potential for high-power and embedding applications by providing its customers with innovative, high-quality PCB and embedding solutions and address the fast-growing Chinese market.

Mr. Longqing Dong, Standing Committee of the Jintan District Committee of Changzhou, Secretary of the Party Working Committee of Jincheng science and Technology Industrial Park, Secretary of the Party Committee of Jintan Jincheng Town, Jintan District

29.06.2018 | Annual General Meeting 2018

Schramberg, June 29, 2018 – Shareholders present at Schweizer Electronic AG’s 29th Annual Shareholders‘ Meeting on June 29, 2018 followed the proposal submitted by the Executive and Supervisory Boards and agreed to pay a dividend of 0.30 Euro per share for the fiscal year 2017.

With this dividend, the company intends to let its shareholders participate in last year’s business success in spite of the forthcoming investments into the new high technology plant in China for further growth. In future, SCHWEIZER will increasingly develop towards a growth stock in order to consistently explore the excellent business potential deriving from the megatrends e-mobility and autonomous driving. With this strategic realignment, SCHWEIZER’s management expects a disproportionate increase of its company value in the medium term.

The Shareholders’ Meeting approved the actions of the Managing Board and the Supervisory Board for the year 2017. Beyond the proposal for paying a dividend, the plenum, which gathered on the premises of Schweizer Electronic in Schramberg, agreed to all other proposals with a vast majority. With about 140 shareholders joining the meeting, 73.35 percent of the share capital was represented. In addition, around 40 guests were present.

In their speeches, board members Nicolas Schweizer and Marc Bunz reported on a successful fiscal year 2017 which SCHWEIZER closed with a record turnover of 120.9 million euro. The growth of 4.2 percent was due to a record production volume of 109.6 million euro from the production site in Schramberg. Various measures to eliminate bottleneck areas, focussed investments into new production technologies, as well as further process optimisations had allowed for an output increase of 6.2 percent in Schramberg. In this context, the turnover share of high technology products from the fields of power electronics, embedding and system cost reduction, which are mainly used for applications of autonomous driving and electro mobility, increased again and now account for 58 percent of SCHWEIZER’s turnover.

The final group EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation) amounted to 8.4 million euro (2016: 9.5 million euro), corresponding to an EBITDA margin of 7.0 percent against 8.2 percent the year before. The group EBIT (earnings before interest and taxes) came up to 0.3 million euro (2016: 1.8 million euro) which corresponds to an EBIT margin of 0.3 percent (2016: 1.6 percent).

Different special effects had a negative as well a positive impact on the business figures respectively. On the one hand, the EBITDA was affected by legal cost provisions of 2.5 million euro and extraordinary expenses of 0.5 million euro for the preparation of the setup of the new production plant in China. Without these special effects of in total 3.0 million euro, the EBITDA would have amounted to 11.4 million euro, corresponding to an EBITDA margin of 9.4 percent. Since all special effects had a corresponding impact on the EBIT as well, the EBIT before special effects would have amounted to 3.3 million euro, which is equivalent to an EBIT margin of 2.8 percent.

On the other hand, proceeds from the partial sale of SCHWEIZER’s stake in Meiko Electronics had a positive impact on the financial income. In the fourth quarter of the year 2017 SCHWEIZER and Meiko Electronics had agreed on a reduction of their mutual shareholding. The partial sale of the shares has no impact on the continuing successful cooperation of the two companies. The final annual result 2017 amounted to 3.5 million euro (2016: 0.6 million euro).Considering all special effects, the annual result would have amounted to 2.5 million euro.

The company’s solid equity capital increased slightly to 62.3 million euro as of the balance sheet date. This corresponds to an equity ratio of 54.9 percent (December 31, 2016: 52.8 percent). Net gearing was -6.5 % compared to -1.5 percent in 2016.

08.05.2018 | SCHWEIZER shows successful start into the new Fiscal Year

EBITDA stable with 3.5 million euro

EBIT at 1.6 million euro higher than last year

Order book increases by 5 percent against last year’s first quarter

Schramberg, May 08, 2018 - With a turnover of 31.8 million euro in the first quarter 2018 (2017: 32.4 million euro), the SCHWEIZER Group met its expectations. The group’s EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation) remained stable compared to last year’s first quarter at 3.5 million euro, whereby the EBITDA margin of 10.9 percent slightly exceeded last year’s value (2017: 10.7 percent). The EBIT (earnings before interest and taxes) increased to 1.6 million euro (2017: 1.5 million euro), corresponding to an EBIT margin of 4.9 percent (2017: 4.5 percent).

Backed by a good economic development as expected, the positive trend continued in SCHWEIZER’s most important customer segment automotive as well. The pressure to implement the demanding CO2-reductions and the fast pace of technological developments in the areas of autonomous driving and lighting technologies have a positive impact on the demand for SCHWEIZER’s printed circuit boards. Increasing bottle necks in the supply chain of car manufactures, in particular in the components sector however, set limits to the actual growth potential.

SCHWEIZER still achieves the major part of its turnover with customers from the automotive sector. Sales with this customer segment came up to 22.1 million euro in the first quarter (2017: 23.1 million euro). Sales in the industry segment increased by 10.4 percent to 7.4 million euro, while the development with the other customers remained stable.

The production site in Schramberg accounted for 88 percent of the total turnover, the partner network in Asia for 12 percent. Series production started at Meiko Electronics in Vietnam as well as at WUS Kunshan. We expect further output increases from here in the coming quarters.

SCHWEIZER’s balance sheet figures and the operative cash flow remain at a good level, debts slightly increased to 52.9 million euro (December 31, 2017: 51.3 million euro). While the financial liabilities were reduced further, other reserves increased. The equity capital rose to 64.3 million euro so that the equity ratio came up to 54.9 percent (December 31, 2017: 54.9 percent). Net gearing amounted to -4.5 percent. This means the liquid assets continue to be higher than the fixed-rate debts. In the previous year’s quarter this amounted to +0.9 percent.

Forecast for 2018 confirmed“We are very happy with the start into the new fiscal year. We further on expect our turnover to increase by 6 to 8 percent to a level slightly below 130 million euro. The turnover achievements of the first quarter and the expected sales increases through our partner network reaffirm this forecast. Concerning the EBITDA we also stay with our previous estimate of about 10 million euro or an EBITDA margin of 7 to 9 percent. Besides the usual seasonal influences we also expect an impact deriving from the start of the construction period of our site in China”, comments Marc Bunz, Chief Financial Officer of Schweizer Electronic AG.

20.04.2018 | SCHWEIZER confirms record sales for Fiscal Year 2017

Turnover rises to 120.9 million euro

Order book at record level with 181.5 million euro

Annual result increases to 3.5 million euro

Schramberg, April 20, 2018 – The SCHWEIZER Group closed the accounts in 2017 with a record turnover of 120.9 million euro (2016: 116.1 million euro). The growth of 4.2 percent was due to a record production volume of 109.6 million euro from the production site in Schramberg. The final group EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation) amounts to 8.4 million euro (2016: 9.5 million euro), corresponding to an EBITDA margin of 7.0 percent against 8.2 percent the year before. The group EBIT (earnings before interest and taxes) amounts to 0.3 million euro (2016: 1.8 million euro) and corresponds to an EBIT margin of 0.3 percent (2016: 1.6 percent). In the light of the comprehensive investments into the new high technology plant in China, SCHWEIZER’s Supervisory and Executive Boards will suggest a dividend of 0.30 euro on occasion of the forthcoming Annual General Meeting on June 29, 2018.

Different special effects had a negative as well a positive impact on the business figures respectively. On the one hand, the EBITDA was affected by legal cost provisions of 2.5 million euro and extraordinary expenses of 0.5 million euro for the preparation of the setup of the new production plant in China. Without these special effects of in total 3.0 million euro, the EBITDA would amount to 11.4 million euro, corresponding to an EBITDA margin of 9.4 percent. Since all special effects had a corresponding impact on the EBIT as well, the EBIT before special effects would amount to 3.3 million euro, which is equivalent to an EBIT margin of 2.8 percent.

On the other hand, proceeds from the partial sale of SCHWEIZER’s stake in Meiko Electronics had a positive impact on the financial income. In the fourth quarter of the year 2017 SCHWEIZER and Meiko Electronics had agreed on a reduction of their mutual shareholding. The partial sale of the shares has no impact on the continuing successful cooperation of the two companies. Considering all special effects, the annual result 2017 would have amounted to 2.5 million euro.

SCHWEIZER’s positive turnover development was in particular due to the record production volume from the Schramberg production site. Various measures to eliminate bottleneck areas, focussed investments into new production technologies, such as the new laser direct imaging equipment, as well as further process optimisations allowed for an output increase of 6.2 percent in Schramberg. In this context, the turnover share of high technology products from the fields of power electronics, embedding and system cost reduction, which are mainly used for applications of autonomous driving and electro mobility, increased again. These high technology products meanwhile account for 58 percent of our turnover.

The turnover share with customers of the industry sector increased significantly by 34.3 percent to 28.2 million euro (2016: 21.0 million euro). It comprises in particular solutions for automation, detection, robotics, metrology and sensor technology for cuttingedge industry plants as well as sales with customers from aviation. Customer from the industry sector now account for almost a quarter of our yearly sales, and we intend to expand this in future. This is also our intention for the areas of consumer, communication and computing, where sales increased by 22 percent to 8.9 million euro. Both achievements are important for an optimised customer portfolio management. The automotive sector again represented SCHWEIZERs largest customer group with sales of 83.8 million euro and accounted for about 70 percent of the total turnover (2016: 76 percent).

The company’s equity capital increased slightly to 62.3 million euro as of the balance sheet date. This corresponds to an equity ratio of 54.9 percent (December 31, 2016: 52.8 percent). Net gearing was -6.5 % compared to -1.5 percent in 2016.

Outlook for 2018Due to the overall positive economic conditions paired with the automotive sector’s technological focus areas where SCHWEIZER has its strengths, further positive growth impulses are to be expected. SCHWEIZER’s production solutions serve the megatrends autonomous driving, fuel efficiency as well as electrification / hybridisation of motor vehicles. Demand for such technologies will strongly increase over the next years and ensure further growth impulses also in the current business, triggering rising sales with the automotive sector. Furthermore, we expect turnover increases with customers from the industry and aviation sector.

“Our order book which increased again to 181.5 million euro by the end of last year puts us into a very good position”, comments Marc Bunz, Chief Financial Officer of Schweizer Electronic AG. “For 2018 we expect the group turnover to increase by 6 to 8 percent, which will be the highest increase in the last four years. The start-up costs for the new site in China, however, will burden our results. Nevertheless, from today’s perspective we expect an EBITDA margin of 7 to 9 percent for the year 2018. This corresponds to an EBITDA of about 10 million euro.”

2017

15.11.2017 | SCHWEIZER sets the direction for further growth by investing in China

Schramberg, November 15, 2017 – Schweizer Electronic signed an investment agreement today with the government of Jintan/China (Jiangsu Province) to set up a sustainable high technology printed circuit board (PCB) and embedding production facility in China. The total investment will amount to 180 million USD over the next years to enable group sales to jump to up to 500 million USD.

SCHWEIZER is a leading manufacturer in the field of innovative high technology PCBs focussing on e-mobility, advanced driver assistance systems and autonomous driving. These trends have become the most powerful market drivers in the company’s most important business segment automotive.

For years already has SCHWEIZER successfully collaborated with Infineon, the market leader for power semiconductors, in the field of embedding technologies. Furthermore, the SCHWEIZER Group has built a strong network and footprint in Asia through its Partners WUS and Meiko.

With the investment into a high-tech production facility in China, the company will further exploit the world-wide market potential for high-power and embedding applications by providing its customers with innovative, high-quality PCB and embedding solutions and address the fast-growing Chinese market.

“Our target is to become the leading sensor and power PCB manufacturer for the megatrends of mobility and energy efficiency. This is possible for us, since we have the right people, the right technologies and the right international network. By this investment we are able to serve the customer demands and participate in the substantial market growth, while at the same time securing the long-term viability of our production site in Schramberg”, says Nicolas Schweizer, Chief Technology Officer and Member of the Board of Schweizer Electronic AG.

With a view to the decision for China as the location for the new production facility Marc Bunz, Chief Financial Officer and Member of the Board of Schweizer Electronic AG, adds: “Having undertaken comprehensive research and location analysis efforts, China emerged as the location best suited for our purposes as it offers the best overall frame conditions for the investment.”

The accompanying picture shows Mr. Qi LI, Director (Legal Representative) of the Jintan District Jincheng Science & Technology Industrial Park Work Committee and Mr. Nicolas Schweizer, Management Board Schweizer Electronic AG after the agreement was signed, as well as further representatives of the government of Jintan and SCHWEIZER.

Schramberg, November 06, 2017 – The SCHWEIZER Group closed the accounts after the first nine months of the business year 2017 with a turnover growth of 5.4 percent to 91.8 million euro (2016: 87.1 million euro). The production output from the Schramberg site again grew disproportionately. Thus, the company maintained the positive operative performance shown in the first half year throughout the third quarter as well.

Quarterly sales amounted to 29.9 million euro (2016: 29.1 million euro), whereby the automotive customer group decreased its turnover share to 68.2 percent (2016: 76.6 percent), while the industry customers increased their share to 24.4 percent (2016: 16.5 percent). Order income increased by 33.5 percent to 41.4 million euro in the third quarter (2016: 31.0 million euro). The demand of the industry customers doubled to 10.4 million euro, but also the automotive customer group increased its demand significantly by 13 percent to 28.6 million euro.

The Group EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation) decreased in the third quarter to 2.4 million euro (2016: 2.9 million euro), corresponding to an EBITDA margin of 8.1 percent (2016: 10.0 percent). This is mainly due to higher other operating expenses of in total 1.8 million euro (2016: 0.1 million euro), and in particular due to a 1.5-million-euro-increase of accruals as risk prevention in connection with two pending lawsuits against SCHWEIZER. Before special effects, the EBITDA would amount to 4.1 million euro, corresponding to an EBITDA margin of 13.8 percent (2016: 10.0 percent). The Group EBIT (earnings before interest and taxes) after special effects amounts to 0.4 million euro in the third quarter 2017 (2016: 0.9 million euro) and corresponds to an EBIT margin of 1.5 percent (2016: 3.2 percent), while the Group EBIT before special effects comes up to 2.1 million euro in Q3.

Forecast

“The discussion about alternative drive technologies, in particular e-mobility, has shown increasing dynamism over the last months again. This means a positive trend for us, as the focus on e-mobility and autonomous driving aroused increasing interest of customers in our power electronics PCBs. Based on the results and balance sheet figures of the third quarter, and considering the special effects, we confirm our forecast and expect an EBITDA margin of 7 to 8 percent for the total fiscal year 2017, whereby we anticipate reaching the lower end of the forecasted range”, comments Marc Bunz, Chief Financial Officer of Schweizer Electronic AG.

Schramberg, October 18, 2017 – The international aviation sector is amongst the industries with the highest growth rates, and according to experts this trend will continue in the future. In the year 2016 the German civil aviation sector alone achieved a turnover growth of seven percent to 27.1 billion euro. It represents 72 percent of the total turnover in the national aerospace industry. Rising demand for mobility and replacements of older airplanes with high fuel consumption by models of the latest, low-noise and fuel-efficient aircraft generation are key growth drivers in this area.

SCHWEIZER offers innovative PCB solutions for radar-, high current- and high temperature applications as well as PCBs to support miniaturisation and the reduction of weight and CO2 emissions. Since the aviation industry follows similar objectives, and in view of its own high quality standards, the company has entered the aviation sector and has delivered series orders to customers in this industry since 2016, with an upward trend in turnover and order book since then. SCHWEIZER has been certified according to EN 9100 since 2013 and has just been re-certified for 2018 without exceptions. The NADCAP certification is planned to be carried out until the end of 2018.

Schweizer Electronic AG currently achieves more than 70 percent of its turnover with premium customers in the automotive industry and is development partner for many reputable OEMs and Tier One’s in this sector. The demanding quality standards of the automotive sector created the perfect conditions to produce high-quality PCBs for aviation applications, and the company is on its track to build up a good reputation as innovative and reliable partner in the aviation industry as well.

In October and November, SCHWEIZER will be present on two international exhibitions, starting with the 12thAIRTEC, one of the most important international aerospace exhibitions which takes place from October 24 to 26 in Munich-Hallbergmoos, in close proximity to the airport. Exhibitors from all over Europe, China, India, Israel, Pakistan, South Africa and the USA are going to be there, amongst them market leaders from the aerospace sector as well as world-wide renowned technology companies. Two weeks later, the Hamburg Aviation Forum will take place from November 7 to 8 on the Hamburg Fair Grounds. It has a well-known reputation as expert conference and networking platform for the international aviation industry across the entire supply chain. Decision-makers from enterprises such as Airbus, Boeing, Bombardier are going to meet representatives of the international airlines, and supplier companies such as SCHWEIZER take advantage of this opportunity to showcase their innovative technologies.

“The prospects are positive. In the year 2016, our business area aviation contributed with first revenues to our year-end results. By the end of the first half-year 2017, we had already been able to quadruple our turnover and increase the order book by 14 percent in this segment. Since the entire aviation sector is forecasted to grow above-average, we also expect substantial increases in the years to come”, says Marc Bunz, Chief Financial Officer of Schweizer Electronic AG. “Germany is amongst the leading aerospace countries world-wide with billions of investments into innovations in this sector. As a manufacturer of printed circuit board solutions for the reduction of CO2 emissions, it is also pleasing for us that by the end of last year, the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) has agreed on a climate protection programme to reduce CO2 emissions, so that we see a pleasing long-term and international perspective for our company in this industry.

• Sales increased by 6.8 percent to 61.9 million euro• Output from the site in Schramberg boosted by 9.2 percent • Order book stable at 160.5 million euro

Schramberg, August 14, 2017 – The SCHWEIZER Group increased sales by 6.8 percent to 61.9 million euro in the first half year 2017 (2016: 58.0 million euro). Thanks to the investments undertaken in the fiscal year 2016, the production output from the Schramberg site even boosted by 9.2 percent to 57.0 million euro. While the turnover increase was achieved across almost all market regions, Asia contributed to the largest extent with a 50 percent sales growth against previous year’s period. Order income amounted to 64.0 million euro, so that the order book rose to 160.5 million euro, with 63.2 million euro planned for delivery in 2017. Compared to the previous year, the order income from industry customers was particularly dynamic: The order book for this customer group increased by 80 percent to 29.3 million euro. The automotive sector, however, still represents the biggest customer group.

The Group EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation) amounted to 3.6 million euro in the first half year 2017 (2016: 4.6 million euro). This corresponds to an EBITDA margin of 5.8 percent (2016: 7.9 percent). The Group EBIT (earnings before interest and taxes) amounts to -0.4 million euro (2016: 0.9 million euro), corresponding to an EBIT margin of -0.7 percent (2016: 1.5 percent).

Supply bottlenecks of individual materials led to disproportionately high purchase price increases in the second quarter 2017. Also, the two-percent salary increase became effective on April 1st, 2017. Furthermore, special effects of in total 1.4 million euro had a negative impact on the result of the second quarter. The operating EBITDA before one-off special effects came up to 5.0 million euro, corresponding to an EBITDA margin of 8.1 percent. The period result was additionally burdened by tax reserves of 0.6 million euro and amounted to -1.1 million euro against 0.5 million euro the year before.

Forecast

“Despite the challenges triggered by the diesel emissions scandal, the stable development in the automobile industry is going to continue - in particular in the main areas of innovation such as energy efficiency, e-mobility and high frequency applications. We expect the demand for our products to fully utilise or even exceed our capacities”, says Marc Bunz, Chief Financial Officer of Schweizer Electronic AG. “In view of the sales increase to 61.9 million euro in the first half year, which was slightly above our expectations, we increase the upper limit of our sales forecast for the year 2017 to between plus 3 to 5 percent. Next to the stable output from the production site in Schramberg, increasing volumes from our partnerships with WUS Kunshan and Meiko in Vietnam will contribute to the turnover. Against the background of the one-off special effects of the first half year 2017, we expect an EBITDA margin of between 7 to 8 percent.”

07.07.2017 | Schweizer Electronic AG: Dividend stable at 0.65 Euro

Dividend stable at 0.65 Euro

Investments of 9 million euro in 2016 for further growth

Contracts of Management Board Members extended by five years

Schramberg, July 07, 2017 – Shareholders present at Schweizer Electronic AG’s 28th Annual Shareholders‘ Meeting on July 7, 2017 followed the proposal submitted by the Executive and Supervisory Boards and agreed to pay a dividend of 0.65 Euro per share for the fiscal year 2016. This corresponds to a dividend ratio of 45.4% after allocation to the profit reserves. Thus, the dividend of Schweizer Electronic AG remains stable. Furthermore, SCHWEIZER again will have employees participate in the company’s success with a payout amounting to 525,000 Euro this year and this way expresses their appreciation for the outstanding contribution. Furthermore, the Supervisory Board of Schweizer Electronic AG extended the period of office of the Management Board members Nicolas Schweizer and Marc Bunz by another five years.

The Shareholders’ Meeting approved the actions of the Managing Board and the Supervisory Board for the year 2016 with a vast majority. Beyond the proposal for paying a dividend, the plenum, which gathered in Rottweil, agreed to all other proposals concerning the election of the Supervisory Board with a vast majority. With about 183 shareholders joining the meeting, 69.24 % of the share capital was represented. In addition, about 40 guests were present.

In their speeches, board members Nicolas Schweizer and Marc Bunz reported on a dynamic fiscal year 2016 where SCHWEIZER managed to stabilise its turnover with a slight increase of 0.5 percent to 116.1 million euro, while the global PCB market declined again. Sales of SCHWEIZER’s innovative high technology products boosted by 5 percent and accounted for 55 percent of the total turnover. Moreover, first orders to customers from the aviation sector were carried out in the last fiscal year, contributing to the year-end result. This business is forecasted to grow considerably as the entire aviation sector expects disproportionately high market growth rates in the years to come.

In 2016 the EBITDA according to IFRS (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation) amounted to 9.5 million euro against 11.4 million euro the year before. The EBITDA margin came to 8.2% in 2016 compared to 9.8% in 2015. The EBIT (earnings before interest and taxes) was 1.8 million euro (2015: 3.7 million euro), corresponding to an EBIT margin of 1.6% (2015: 3.2%). With an equity capital of 64.8 million euro corresponding to an equity ratio of 55.1% and net gearing of -1.5 % the company’s financial structures continued to remain on a solid level.

Substantial new product startups with a lower rate of return in the ramp-up phase, disproportionally increasing personal cost as well as a comprehensive investment programme burdened the year end result, which decreased to 0.6 million euro in 2016 (2015: 1.5 million euro). Investments into fixed assets and software amounted to 9 million euro in 2016. Emphasis of these investments was on the one hand on the elimination of bottlenecks, which had occurred due to the increasing technology requirements of the product portfolio. On the other hand, SCHWEIZER invested strongly into the expansion of its high-technology plants as well as into a combined heat- and power plant on its premises.

Lippstadt, June 27, 2017. In the context of the research project funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) regarding the fully adaptive light distribution for intelligent, efficient and safe vehicle lighting (VoLiFa2020), lighting and electronics expert HELLA has developed and constructed a headlamp on the basis of a Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) in collaboration with project partners Merck, Institut für Großflächige Mikroelektronik IGM, Stuttgart University, Porsche, Elmos Semiconductor, Schweizer Electronic, and the University of Paderborn. This technology is for example already known in the home entertainment field. "For the first time, we have integrated Liquid Crystal HD technology in a vehicle. Thanks to its great resolution and sharpness of detail, it opens up very new paths in automotive lighting technology", says Dr Michael Kleinkes, Vice President Development Lighting & Innovation at HELLA. Overall, the new LCD headlamp projects 30,000 pixels onto the road. This allows adjusting the light pattern in an intelligent and continuous manner to various driving situations in real time. "The use of an LC display is a further step towards digitalizing lighting", says Christian Schmidt, Head of Lighting Technology Pre-Development at HELLA. This means: the adaptation of the light pattern will increasingly be determined by software. The driver will obtain the best possible view of the road. Individual segments with e.g. other traffic participants or strongly reflecting street signs can be omitted or dimmed in a targeted manner. Highly complex functions are also conceivable: navigation arrows or lines showing the ideal lane can be projected onto the road. "LCD technology enables functions that will also be relevant to autonomous driving", says Christian Schmidt. "We will therefore make the technology fit for serial production."

The LC display is the headlamp's key component. It is situated between the LED light source and the projection lens. The display generates a matrix with 100 x 300 pixels that can be individually controlled and dimmed. A camera installed in the vehicle as well as a sensor optically reading distances and speeds (light detection and ranging sensor LiDAR), will forward the ambient information to the headlamp control unit via a processor. This will then direct the individual display pixels up to 60 times per second. 25 high-power LED's arranged in three rows will serve as light source. Each LED's light intensity will be adjusted to the respective lighting situation.

HELLA developed the concept for the LCD headlamp's optical system during the research project. The system requirements of automobile manufacturer Porsche and the Research Institute for Lighting Technology and Mechatronics of the University of Paderborn (L-LAB) served as foundation. Ensuring high system efficiency and a thermal concept guaranteeing the automotive suitability of the module were among the various HELLA tasks. A special liquid crystal was required here, which Merck developed for this purpose. Using this chemical component, the IGM of Stuttgart University developed and built prototype displays. Elmos Semiconductor designed and built innovative electronic semiconductor components, which Schweizer Electronic embedded into the BCP in a completely novel manner("Embedding"). This technology allowed the experts realizing a reliable, efficient and space-efficient control of the LED lighting unit. HELLA provided the integration of the various components into the overall system and developed an interface between lighting control and headlamp. A prototype resulted, which -- integrated into a Porsche Panamera - is currently being tested under realistic driving conditions by test drivers at the University of Paderborn.

Due to increasing traffic volumes and safety requirements, intelligent lighting systems are of increasing importance. LCD technology enables completely new functionalities and opportunities here. And the use is not limited to passenger cars. Other vehicle categories, such as commercial vehicles or buses also provide meaningful application areas.

HELLA KGaA Hueck & Co., Lippstadt: HELLA is a family-owned, listed company operating on the international stage and currently employing approximately 36,000 members of staff at more than 125 locations in about 35 countries around the world. The HELLA Group develops and manufactures lighting technology and electronics for the automotive industry and also has one of the largest retail organizations for automotive parts, accessories, diagnostics, and services within Europe. Joint venture companies furthermore create entire vehicle modules, air-conditioning systems and vehicle wiring systems. With more than 6,000 people working in research and development, HELLA is one of the most important innovation drivers on the market. Furthermore, with sales of 6.4 billion euros in the fiscal year of 2015/2016, the HELLA Group is one of the top 40 automotive parts suppliers in the world and one of the 100 largest German industrial companies.

Merck KGaA: Merck is a leading science and technology company in healthcare, life science and performance materials. Around 50,000 employees work to further develop technologies that improve and enhance life – from biopharmaceutical therapies to treat cancer or multiple sclerosis, cutting-edge systems for scientific research and production, to liquid crystals for smartphones and LCD televisions. In 2016, Merck generated sales of € 15.0 billion in 66 countries. Founded in 1668, Merck is the world's oldest pharmaceutical and chemical company. The founding family remains the majority owner of the publicly listed corporate group. Merck holds the global rights to the Merck name and brand. The only exceptions are the United States and Canada, where the company operates as EMD Serono, MilliporeSigma and EMD Performance Materials.

Institute for Large Area Microelectronics (IGM), University of Stuttgart: Since it was founded as “Laboratory for Display Technology” in 1991 the IGM has widened its research scope constantly. Besides thin film transistors (TFTs) based on amorphous and polycrystalline silicon, carbon nano tubes, IGZO, and organic semiconductors its area of research includes flexible LC- and OLED-Displays on metal- or plastic-foils, printed electronics, display drivers and optical signal processing, especially methods to synthesize optical filters. Due to its Europe-wide unique equipment and expertise all process steps from creating photolithographic masks to actuated active matrix displays can be performed directly at the IGM.

Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG: Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG based in Stuttgart-Zuffenhausen, Germany, is the world’s leading manufacturer of exclusive sportscars. In 2016, the company delivered around 237,000 new vehicles to its customers around the world, generating sales of EUR 22.3 billion. The company’s operating income sat at EUR 3.9 billion, making Porsche one of the world’s most profitable automotive manufacturers. Porsche founded the sportscar segment more than 50 years ago with the release of the iconic 911 sportscar. Further model lines have since followed in the form of the 718 Boxster, 718 Cayman, Panamera, Macan, Cayenne and 918 Spyder. Porsche is also setting milestones when it comes to plug-in hybrid drives: Porsche was the first manufacturer to introduce this technology in high-performance sportscars (918 Spyder), exclusive saloons (Panamera S E-Hybrid) and premium off-road vehicles (Cayenne S E-Hybrid). What’s more, with the tests on the 919 Hybrid prototype, Porsche is already achieving success working on the technology of tomorrow in the LMP1 class of the World Endurance Championship (WEC). This technology is also set to be used in the first purely electric series-production sportscar that will be launched by the end of the decade in the form of the “Mission E”. In total, Porsche AG employs a staff of around 28,000 across the globe through 70 subsidiaries. Production facilities have been established in Zuffenhausen (for the 911, 718) and Leipzig (for the Panamera, Macan and Cayenne). The development, design and motorsports departments are based in the Development Centre in Weissach, Germany.

Elmos Semiconductor AG: Elmos develops, produces and markets semiconductors and sensors, primarily for use in the automotive industry. Our components communicate, measure, regulate and control safety, comfort, powertrain and network functions. For over 30 years, Elmos innovations have been bringing new functions to life and making mobility worldwide safer, more comfortable and more energy efficient. Elmos achieved sales of 228.6 million euro in the past financial year. Headquartered in Dortmund, the company employs more than 1,100 people worldwide. Other locations are located e.g. in Detroit, Silicon Valley, Shanghai and Tokyo. The company is listed on the Prime Standard on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange.

Schweizer Electronic AG: Schweizer Electronic AG stands for state-of-the-art technology and consultancy competence. SCHWEIZER’s premium printed circuit boards and innovative solutions and services for automotive, solar, industry and aviation electronics address key challenges in the areas of Power Electronics, Embedding and System Cost Reduction. Its products are distinguished for their superior quality and their energy-saving and environmentally friendly features. Together with its partners WUS Printed Circuit (Kunshan) Co., Ltd., Meiko Electronics Co. Ltd. and Elekonta Marek GmbH & Co. KG the company offers in its division electronics cost- and production-optimised solutions for small, medium and large series. Together with its partner Infineon Technologies AG, SCHWEIZER plans to jointly tap the chip embedding market in future. With 787 employees SCHWEIZER achieved sales of 116.1 million euro in Fiscal Year 2016.The company was founded in 1849, is managed by the family and listed at the Stuttgart and Frankfurt Stock Exchanges (ticker symbol „SCE“, „ISIN DE 000515623“).

Universität Paderborn: Paderborn University is the University for the Information Society. Our strong foundation in computer science and its applications, as well as the importance of IT for a growing number of disciplines, are the pillars for this claim. But we want to achieve more: we want to contribute to the scientific and technical development of the information society, simultaneously critically reflecting these developments by taking into account the history, norms and values of our society. To achieve this, we need the spectrum from “hard” sciences to the arts and humanities to complement and learn from each other. Our mission includes a strong international and cultural presence, since the information society is decidedly global and should not remain a purely intellectual undertaking. Our university orchestra, our drama group, and more than 70 different sports, are some of the important university activities that help characterize academic life here in Paderborn. Our five faculties cover a broad range of courses of study in the arts and humanities, business studies, natural sciences, and engineering. We offer 63 degree programs at bachelor and master level. Additionally, teacher education programs play an important role in Paderborn. With over 20,300 students, 247 professors and a library that is open 350 days a year, our compact campus university provides a friendly, green, connected environment with excellent services for student life.

16.05.2017 | SCHWEIZER presents innovation at PCIM 2017

Shunts for current measurement can now be embedded into the printed circuit board in combination with the p² Pack® ensuring further system advantages.

Schramberg, May 16, 2017 –The SCHWEIZER p² Pack® allowing to embed power electronics semiconductors into the printed circuit board (PCB) is a preferred solution for future high current motor drives. This embedding technology does not only save valuable installation space but offers further system advantages such as: improved conduction losses (RDSon) of the power electronics, improved thermal resistance and thermal impedance (RTH und ZTH) of the system, a low-inductive design, improved switching charcteristics, improved electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) as well as higher reliability.

Schweizer Electronic AG now takes the next integration step by embedding shunts in combination with a half bridge for the first time. Thus the components‘ thermal dissipation is optimised and further installation space can be saved, which is a considerable technical advantage in today’s trend towards miniaturisation. First demonstrators of this innovation will be shown at the SCHWEIZER booth (hall 7, booth 240) on occasion of PCIM, taking place in Nuremberg from May 16 to 18, 2017.

Many power electronics applications, e.g. motors, use shunts for current measurement. A shunt is a low-resistance precision resistor, applied for measuring electric currents. The current passing the shunt triggers a proportional voltage drop, which is measured. Shunts so far have usually been mounted on the PCB. As a consequence, the resulting heat has to be conducted through the substrate PCB first before reaching the cooling system.

05.05.2017 | Successful First Quarter 2017 for SCHWEIZER

Turnover increases by 14.9 percent

EBITDA jumps by 59 percent

Order income increases by 8.2 percent

Schramberg, May 5, 2017 – SCHWEIZER Group managed a very good start into the new Fiscal Year. In the first quarter 2017 the company reported a year-on-year turnover increase of 14.9 percent to 32.4 million euro (2016: 28.2 million euro). The group’s EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation) jumped by 59 percent to 3.5 million euro compared to 2.2 million euro in Q1 2016. An improved gross margin of last year’s complex product startups and the high turnover contributed substantially to the EBITDA margin of 10.7 percent (2016: 7.8 percent). The EBIT (earnings before interest and taxes) increased to 1.5 million euro (2016: 0.5 million euro), corresponding to an EBIT margin of 4.5 percent (2016: 1.8 percent).

Turnover increases could be realised with all customer groups, but the automotive customers continue to represent the biggest part. Sales with these customers increased by 11 percent to 23.1 million euro (2016: 20.8 million euro). Turnover development with customers from the field of industrial electronics was also gratifying, with sales increasing by 26.9 percent to 6.7 million euro (2016: 5.3 million euro). With a view to the regional allocation, Germany showed a slightly underproportionate turnover increase of 12.5 percent to 19.0 million euro. Consequently, the export ratio increased to 41.4 percent. Exports went in particular to the European countries, but America and Asia Pacific also came up with above-average growth rates. The turnover share of SCHWEIZER’s high technology products increased again in the first quarter, accounting for 57 percent of total turnover (2016: 54 percent). Incoming orders rose by 8.2 percent to 31.7 million euro (2016: 29.3 million euro), the order book amounted to 157.5 million euro at the end of the first quarter 2017 (2016: 150.0 million euro).

SCHWEIZER’s equity capital increased to 65.9 million euro (Dec 31, 2016: 64.8 million euro), which corresponds to an equity ratio of 53.8 percent (Dec 31, 2016: 55.1 percent), net gearing was 0.9 percent compared to -1.5 percent at the end of the year 2016.

Outlook“The first quarter exceeded our expectations concerning turnover and operative results. Based on our order book we continue to strive for a 2 to 4 percent turnover growth this year compared to 2016, which corresponds to a turnover of about 120 million euro. Considering the successful first quarter we currently expect our EBITDA to be on the upper end of the forecasted 8 to 9 percent EBITDA range”, says Marc Bunz, Chief Financial Officer of Schweizer Electronic AG. “However, one cannot rule out the possibility that the current development of copper prices and the international shortages and price increases for copper foils and laminates might burden the turnover and the results. We are pleased to say that we do not face any shortages at the moment”.

Schramberg, April 28, 2017 – Schweizer Group closed the accounts in 2016 with a slight turnover increase of 0.5% to 116.1 million euro (2015: 115.6 million euro) and 9.5 million euro EBITDA according to IFRS (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation) against 11.4 million euro the year before. The EBITDA margin comes to 8.2% in 2016 compared to 9.8% in 2015. The EBIT (earnings before interest and taxes) amounts to 1.8 million euro (2015: 3.7 million euro), corresponding to an EBIT margin of 1.6% (2015: 3.2%). On occasion of the forthcoming Annual General Meeting, SCHWEIZER’s Supervisory and Executive Boards will suggest a dividend of 0.65 euro.

Substantial new product startups with a lower rate of return in the ramp-up phase, disproportionally increasing personal cost as well as a comprehensive investment programme burdened the year end result, which decreased to 0.6 million euro in 2016 (2015: 1.5 million euro). Investments into fixed assets and software alone amounted to 7.3 million euro in 2016 compared to 4.2 million euro in 2015. A strong emphasis of these investments was on the elimination of bottlenecks, which had occurred due to the increasing technology requirements of the product portfolio. Furthermore, a combined heat and power plant and a new telecommunication system were installed in 2016, with investments of 1.5 million euro and 0.2 million euro respectively.

SCHWEIZER’s turnover development is characterised by further successful business with the highly complex products of the company’s technology portfolio, making up 55% of the total turnover in the last fiscal year (2015: 52%). With 87.8 million euro sales in 2016, the automotive suppliers again constituted the largest customer sector, accounting for more than 75% of SCHWEIZER’s total turnover.

First orders to customers from the aviation sector were carried out in the last fiscal year, and this business is forecasted to grow considerably as the entire aviation sector expects disproportionately high market growth rates in the years to come. First successes triggered by expanded sales activities were visible in the increasing internationalisation of the sales markets, in particular through expanded turnover in China, South Korea and the Philippines, but also on the American Continent, where turnover has trippled to 12.6 million euro since 2014. The order book climbed by 6.2% to 158.4 million euro in 2016 compared to 149.1 million euro in 2015.

The company’s equity capital continues to stay on a high level, reflecting the group’s financial stability. The equity capital amounted to 64.8 million euro and corresponds to an equity ratio of 55.1%. Net gearing was -1.5 % compared to -5.1% in 2015.

Outlook for 2017

SCHWEIZER expects a predominantly positive development with technologically demanding products from the areas of system cost reduction and power electronics for applications in e-mobility, sensors for safety systems and autonomous driving. This means further growth with customers from the automotive sector. Considering the diversification strategy of the customer portfolio, further turnover increase is expected through aviation customers due to predatory competition. In addition, first sales are expected via the strategic partnership with WUS Printed Circuit (Kunshan) Co., Ltd., China in the field of high frequency applications.

“Our expectations are already covered primarily through our order book”, says Marc Bunz, Chief Financial Officer of Schweizer Electronic AG. “For 2017 we expect a slight turnover increase by 2 to 4% compared to 2016. The total amount of orders, destined for shipment in 2017, already came up to 108.2 million euro at the balance sheet date. We expect a slightly better year end result in 2017, striving for an EBITDA margin of again 8 to 9% of total turnover. This assumes that the proportion between turnover of our production in Schramberg and turnover achieved by our Asian partners shows no considerable shifts.”

WUS thus underpins its firm belief in SCHWEIZER’s technological competence and its strong interest in the company’s future prospects. This step further strengthens SCHWEIZER’s partner network.

WUS Printed Circuit (Kunshan) Co., Ltd has been engaged in the design and manufacturing of printed circuit boards since April 1992. Thanks to the teamwork and effort of all its stakeholders, WUS has become one of the leading brands in the PCB industry. Following its product differentiation strategy, WUS focuses on providing value to its customers through technology, quality and service. The company’s’ core products include high layer count PCBs for telecommunication and network equipment, automotive electronics, industrial automation controls and aviation electronics. With about 8,200 employees WUS achieved sales of 489 million euros in Fiscal Year 2016 ending December.

“Our partnership and cooperation with SCHWEIZER bear a win-win solution for both companies as well as for our customers in order to face our common challenges. Therefore we decided to buy the additonal equity stake allowing us to further participate in SCHWEIZER’s business results and to share risks as well as positive outcomes with our partner,” says Chris Wu, President of WUS Printed Circuit (Kunshan) Co., Ltd.

And he adds, "We believe in the coming decade, autopiloting and electrification of automobile will be among the key technologies that revolutionise people's way of living. In the past three years, through technology transfer and co-operation in HF PCBs for ADAS radar, both companies have built a solid foundation of mutual trust, understanding and respect. We are honoured to be invited to participate in this additional equity stake of 15.24% share transfer opportunities, and look forward to deeper co-operation to make these technologies available to more people in a much shorter time than we all expected."

Nicolas Schweizer, Chief Technology Officer of Schweizer Electronic AG, comments: “Only 3 years ago, in April 2014, SCHWEIZER and WUS agreed on their exclusive, long-term strategic partnership which allows us and our customers access to further HF production capacities in Asia. This was followed by WUS’ first investment into SCHWEIZER just 4 months later. Now, we are very pleased about this further capital transaction since it enhances WUS’ strong interest in exploiting the business opportunities on the global automotive market together with SCHWEIZER. As leading manufacturer of sensor and power PCB solutions especially requested for tomorrow’s autonomous cars and for e-mobility, we believe in the strong synergies resulting from the co-operation between our companies”.

2016

30.11.2016 | Schweizer Electronic AG: Executive Board complete again

Schramberg, November 30, 2016 – Schweizer Electronic announces that its Executive Board is complete again with immediate effect. Thus, Dr. Maren Schweizer, Chief Executive Officer of Schweizer Electronic AG, has reassumed her responsibility for the business units Operations, Sales & Marketing, Global Supply Chain and Systems. Nicolas Schweizer, Deputy Chairman of the Executive Board, has been back to the office since November 7, responsible for the business units Technology, Human Resources, Legal and Communication. Marc Bunz, Chief Financial Officer at SCHWEIZER, who in the meantime has managed all areas of responsibility on an interim basis, is now able again to dedicate his time entirely to the areas Finance & Controlling, Purchasing, IT and Investor Relations.

07.11.2016 | Innovations from Schweizer and Infineon make Matrix LED headlights more compact and affordable

Schramberg, November 07, 2016 – Matrix LED headlights are now common in premium vehicles because thanks to their excellent road illumination they prevent accidents in twilight or dark and increase driving comfort. Together with Infineon Technologies AG, Schweizer Electronic AG presents innovations for this application at electronica in Munich (08 - 11 November 2016). The innvoations help to reduce space and costs and thus support a greater market penetration of the so-called ADB (Advanced Driving Beam) headlights in the automotive market.

The ADB headlight demonstrator displayed at the Schweizer booth 341 in Hall B4 uses the company's Inlay Board technology, which is already being employed in series production for other automotive applications and will now be used for the first time in a Matrix LED headlight from 2017 onwards. With regard to this technology, Dirk Gennermann, Head of Product Marketing at Schweizer says: "The demands on the assembly and connection technology are increasing for future LED headlights as new smaller LED designs lead to a power loss densities of 5 W/mm² and greater while simultaneously achieving a high luminous efficacy. New PCB technologies are required for heat dissipation of this type of LEDs."

Inlay technology in detail

A copper inlay having a thickness of 1.0 mm is embedded in the PCB and attached to the top and bottom sides of the PCB by hundreds of copper-filled laser vias. The virtually dimple-free filling of holes with copper enables the soldering of LEDs with lowest tolerance requirements directly on the via field. Depending on the thickness and the number of vias, the PCB can have a thermal resistance of down to a minimum of 0.1K/W.

At the same time, the inlay board provides the option of also integrating the complete electronic control for the LED matrix on the PCB in an area having four or more copper layers.

The FR4 Flex technology, which separates logic and power area of the printed circuit board, allows the high-power LEDs to be aligned at an optimal angle to the electronic control to make the best possible use of the small space in the headlight.

The new variant of the Inlay Board technology now also supports novel LED types in chip-scale packages, which due to lack of space do not have electrically insulated heat sinks. The demonstrator presented has been jointly developed with Infineon Technologies AG. Infineon’s LED driver LITIX™ Power Flex enables the flexible scaling of high-current LEDs in a matrix architecture having four to 24 segments. Using LITIX and the Inlay Board technology facilitates the reduction of the PCB space for the LED matrix electronics by up to 50 per cent; components, plugs and connectors required until now are eliminated.

Further information on Schweizer and Infineon at electronica is available at the Schweizer Electronic AG stand 341 in Hall B4, at Infineon’s stand 506 in Hall A5 or under www.infineon.com/electronica.

04.11.2016 | Schweizer Electronic presents third quarter figures and reports increasing achievements in the automotive sector and export business

Schramberg, November 04, 2016 – The successful business development with automotive customers led to an increase of 2.1% to 29.1 million Euro in SCHWEIZER’s third quarter turnover (previous year 28.5 million Euro). Sales with this customer segment alone grew by 12.1% to 22.3 million Euro against 19.9 million Euro the year before. The EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation) reached the target with a total of 2.9 million Euro, and the margin of 10% was above this year’s half year-level of 7.9%, but fell slightly behind last year’s third quarter-margin of 12.0 % (3.4 million Euro). The EBIT (earnings before interest and taxes) amounted to 0.9 million Euro (2015: 1.5 million Euro).

Power electronics products showed an outstanding 20%-sales increase in the automotive sector. They are necessary to construct reliable solutions in e-mobility applications, where the effective management of high temperatures and high currents has to be ensured. While the turnover share of the industry sector declined from 21.1% to 16.5%, initial sales could be realised with aviation customers, letting SCHWEIZER report first achievements as regards the envisaged expansion of its customer portfolio. While turnover in Asia doubled to 2.6 million Euro, figures in the European region slightly declined from 24.2 million Euro in 2015 to 23.5 million Euro this year. SCHWEIZER’s export ratio, however, increased to 41%. The company’s order book grew by 45 million Euro (34%) against last year’s third quarter to a total amount of 177.5 million Euro.

Outlook

“Our EBITDA ratio has reached 8.6% in the first nine months of 2016. Currently, we expect our fourth quarter results to be on a similar level as in the third quarter, presuming that no unforeseen factors occur, which will either burden or benefit the results. This means, we could close our accounts of 2016 with an EBITDA ratio of between 9% and 10%, coming up to our forecast from August this year. Due to delays in the Vietnam ramp-up and at WUS, Kunshan, however, we expect our turnover to stay stable, which is in contrast to our August forecast of a 2%-increase”, comments Marc Bunz, Chief Financial Officer at Schweizer Electronic AG.

10.08.2016 | SCHWEIZER again with record order income in the first half year 2016

Order book increased by 44% to 175.6 million Euro • Slight seasonal turnover decline by 3% • Investments of 5.3 million Euro at the Schramberg production site

Schramberg, August 10, 2016 – The SCHWEIZER group again reported a record order income in the first half year 2016 so that the order book achieved a new peak at 175.6 million Euro. Orders for the Asian partners climbed by 56% to 27.2 million Euro, the order book at the Schramberg production site jumped by 42% to 148.4 million Euro. Despite the increasing order income, the turnover decreased slightly by 3.3% compared to previous year’s period and amounted to 58.0 million Euro. Such a fluctuation, however, is not unusual and is rather a seasonal phenomenon than a shift of the basic direction.

Due to the slight turnover decline, the EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation) decreased by 0.2 million Euro to 4.6 million Euro. The EBIT (earnings before interest and taxes) amounted to 0.9 million Euro (2015: 1.0 million Euro). The financial development at SCHWEIZER continues to remain stable, the balance sheet indicators stay on a high level. In the first half year, the company invested 5.3 million Euro at the production site in Schramberg, with a focus on the new combined heat and power plant as well as on technological investments in bottle neck areas. The equity capital declined slightly by 1% against the 2015 year end level to 66.4 million Euro, which is mainly caused by a profit-neutral allocation to pension provisions. Due to a slightly increased balance sheet total, the equity ratio declined to 54.8% against 56.5% on December 31, 2015. With a net gearing of –1.0% (December 31, 2015: -5.1%) SCHWEIZER disposes of a net asset.

The significant jump in order income reflects a progressively forward-looking ordering procedure of customers in particular in the automotive sector, which accounts for 77% of SCHWEIZER’s turnover volume. Germany remains the strongest market. Technologically advanced products and solutions increasingly continue to contribute to SCHWEIZER’s success with the power electronics technologies achieving a particular high growth rate of 31%.

ForecastThe economic environment as well as the growth forecasts have been overcast by the United Kingdom’s potential exit of the European Union. This is likely to affect the German and the European automotive industry as well. However, SCHWEIZER’s turnover and in particular the order book development of the first half year give reason to confirm the spring forecast of 2% turnover increase for the total year 2016.

05.07.2016 | Schweizer Electronic AG: Dividend stable with 0.65 Euro

Schramberg, July 5, 2016 – Shareholders present at Schweizer Electronic AG’s 27th Annual Shareholders‘Meeting on July 1, 2016 followed the proposal submitted by the Executive and Supervisory Boards and agreed to pay a dividend of 0.65 Euro per share for the fiscal year 2015. This corresponds to a dividend ratio of 45% after allocation to the profit reserves. Thus, the dividend of Schweizer Electronic AG remains stable. Furthermore, SCHWEIZER again will have employees participate in the company’s success with a payout amounting to 500,000 Euro and this way expresses their appreciation for the outstanding contribution.

Beyond the proposal for paying a dividend, the plenum, which gathered in Rottweil, agreed to all other proposals with a vast majority. The proposals concern the acquirement of up to a total of 10% of the company’s own share capital, the procurement of newly approved capital of up to 50% of the share capital as well as the procurement of conditional capital with a maximum nominal value amount of 35 million Euro. With about 177 shareholders joining the meeting, 75% of the share capital was represented. In addition, about 50 guests were present.

In their speeches Nicolas Schweizer, Deputy CEO and Marc Bunz, CFO, reported on a successful business year, where SCHWEIZER managed again to grow by 4.8% thus bucking the trend of the world-wide market which declined by 3.7%. As already announced, sales increased to 115.6 million Euro. Growing disproportionately by 19% to a total amount of 60.3 million Euro, the products of SCHWEIZER’s innovative product portfolio were leading in the turnover development, accounting for more than 50% of the total turnover already. With an increase of 25% SCHWEIZER also achieved record growth rates in order income and in the order book. In addition, the company managed to expand its customer portfolio by entering the aviation sector: first serial orders will be delivered within the next weeks and new orders have already been received for coming business periods.

In 2015, SCHWEIZER reported its financial statements according to IFRS standards for the first time. EBIT after special effects amounted to 3.7 million Euro against 3.0 million Euro the year before. Before special effects, the EBIT amounted to 5.8 million Euro. The company continues to build on solid financial structures with an equity capital of 67.4 million Euro (equity ratio 56.5%) and a net gearing ratio of – 5.1%.

The Shareholders’ Meeting approved the actions of the Managing Board and the Supervisory Board for the year 2015 with a vast majority. The long-standing member Christoph Schweizer was re-elected into the Supervisory Board, Ms. Karin Sommermoser, CFO of Zumtobel AG, was elected as his personal substitute member. Simultaneously, Dr. Stephan Zizala, Vice President and General Manager Business Line Automotive Power at Infineon Technologies AG, Neubiberg, was elected member of the Supervisory Board.

Record order book of 149.1 million euro in 2015 increases further to 150.0 million euro in Q1/2016

Schramberg, April 29, 2016 – Schweizer Group closed the accounts in 2015 with record sales of 115.6 million euro (2014: 110.2 million euro) and 11.4 million euro EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation) against 11.2 million euro the year before. The EBITDA margin amounts to 9.8% in 2015 compared to 10.2% in 2014. Before special effects, triggered by one-time personnel expenses and negative exchange rate effects between the euro and the US dollar, the EBITDA amounted to 13.5 million euro (2014: 11.2 million euro). The EBIT (earnings before interest and taxes) inreased to 3.7 million euro (2014: 3.0 million euro). The EBIT before special effects came up to 5.8 million euro. On occasion of the forthcoming Annual General Meeting, SCHWEIZER’s Supervisory and Executive Boards will suggest a dividend of 0.65 euro.

With sales increasing by 4.8% SCHWEIZER once again managed to grow against the trend, while the global printed circuit board market shrank by 3.7% to 55.3 billion USD in 2015. The growth was primarily achieved through business successes in North- and Central America, where sales climbed to a total of 11.0 million euro. The production site in Schramberg contributed with record sales of 104.2 million euro, thus having increased by 10.1% in total since 2013 thanks to well-targeted investments in personnel and plant capacity. Business with the Asian partners jumped to 11.4 million euro during this period, corresponding to a growth of 75% in total.

The company continues to build on solid financial structures with an equity capital of 67.4 million euro (2014: 68.4 million euro) and an equity ratio of 56.5% (2014: 58.3%). Net gearing improved from -3.3% in 2014 to -5.1% in 2015.

Focus on high technology and expansion of customer portfolio

Highly innovative technology products in power electronics and system cost reduction increasingly make up the basis of SCHWEIZER’s success. Sales from these product areas increased overproportionally by 19% to 60.3 million euro (2014: 50.5 million euro). Furthermore, SCHWEIZER aims at expanding its customer portfolio in a targeted way. New orders worth 6.2 million euro have already been placed by customers from the aviation sector.

The order book continues to increase in the first quarter

According to preliminary figures, the order book of 149.1 million euro continued to increase to a total of 150.0 million euro at the beginning of the new business year. Turnover amounted to 28.2 million euro against 30.9 million euro at the end of Q1/2015. The EBITDA came up to 2.2 million euro, corresponding to an EBITDA margin of 7.7%. The EBIT amounted to 0.5 million euro (EBIT margin 1.8%). With 55.4% the equity ratio almost remained stable compared to the end of 2015, and net gearing was -2.5%.

Outlook

With incoming orders increasing by 25% in 2015, SCHWEIZER’s order book had already achieved a record level of 149.1 million euro at the end of 2015 (2014: 119.2 million euro). The continuing growth in the first quarter of 2016 already demonstrates a good starting position for SCHWEIZER in 2016. Thanks to its customer portfolio and the very good technological position, SCHWEIZER expects to grow further in 2016. However, due to the slow printed circuit board market and the growing economic insecurity, growth will rather be on a level of 2%. Considering the moderate turnover growth and the elimination of one-time personnel expenses, the company expects the EBITDA margin to increase to 10% or slightly more.

29.02.2016 | Schweizer Electronic AG fulfils expectations for turnover and earnings and takes a confident view of perspectives for 2016

Preliminary figures for the business year 2015

Order book jumped by 25% to record level

Turnover increases to 115.5 million euro

Schramberg, February 29, 2016 – According to preliminary figures Schweizer Electronic AG has closed the accounts for the fiscal year 2015 with a record turnover of 115.5 million euro.

The order book climbed to a record level of 149.1 million euro by the end of the year 2015 (previous year 119.2 million euro), presenting a promising starting position for further growth. A particularly strong fourth quarter substantially contributed to the positive development of order income, which jumped by 25% to 145.4 million euro. Order activities of the automotive customers were very satisfying with an increase of 20.8 million euro to 105.5 million euro. Moreover, SCHWEIZER aims at a narrowly-focused enlargement of its customer portfolio and has already received significant new orders from customers of the aviation industry.

The company exactly met its expectations with earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) of 8.5 million euro (previous year €10.0m), which corresponds to an EBIT margin of 7.4 percent (previous year 9.1%). The EBIT was affected by two exceptional expenses: Firstly, the development of the euro currency in relation to the US dollar had negative effects on SCHWEIZER’s earnings, as significant volumes are purchased in the US and in Asia and secondly, the EBIT was burdened by one-time personnel expenses. Excluding these non-recurring items making up a total of 2.1 million euro in 2015, the EBIT would amount to 10.6 million euro (previous year €10.0m), which corresponds to an EBIT margin of 9.2 percent (previous year 9.1%).

Outlook

“Thanks to our leading position in the growth markets of fuel efficiency and CO2 reduction as well as ADAS (advanced driver assistance systems) we expect to continue to grow faster than our reference markets also in the years to come.

Depending on the business development with our Asian partners e.g. in the field of high frequency technology and under consideration of the rather cautious forecasts for the overall economy as well as for the global PCB market, we expect a turnover increase of 3 to 5 percent in 2016”, comments Dr. Maren Schweizer, CEO of Schweizer Electronic AG.

Based on the planned customer and product portfolio, the company expects stable operative business results, which should correspond to the slightly positive turnover forecast for 2016. The dynamic business environments on the energy-, industrial metal- and currency markets, however, will involve risks as well as opportunities. Furthermore, the increasing share of products from Asian partners will increase turnover in absolute figures, but due to the nature of trading operations, the margins will be lower than those generated by the sale of own products. The exclusion of one-time personnel expenses will have positive effects on the EBIT margin.

Due to growing activities in its subsidiaries, SCHWEIZER decided to publish an additional consolidated financial statement based on the IFRS rules for 2015. Final figures for the fiscal year 2015 will probably be published on March 30, 2016.

15.02.2016 | Schweizer Electronic now member of ECPE (European Center for Power Electronics e.V.)

Schramberg, February 15, 2016 – Schweizer Electronic AG has joined the European Center for Power Electronics e.V. (ECPE), a network of industrial enterprises from the field of power electronics as well as universities and research institutions.

“As a leading PCB company for power electronics solutions, we are very interested in the ECPE network and its activities. The regular exchange between production and institutional research and development is vital for the further development and competitiveness of a company, which is active in such a dynamic business sector,” says Christian Roessle, Vice President Sales and Marketing at Schweizer Electronic AG. “Over the last years, PCBs have become more and more important as platform for power electronics solutions. Thanks to its heavy copper-, inlay-, combi- and IMS boards as well as the p² Pack, SCHWEIZER is a leading manufacturer in this sector. Becoming part of the ECPE community therefore is a logical consequence. As member of the ECPE, we will have quick access to the latest research projects and programmes enabling us to further expand our regular exchange as regards innovative solutions, and this benefits our customers as well”.

About the ECPE (European Center for Power Electronics e.V.)

The ECPE European Center for Power Electronics e.V. was founded in 2003 by eight industrial enterprises as an industry-driven Research Network for Power Electronics in Europe. In the meantime the network comprises more than 75 member companies. Furthermore, more than 80 European universities and research institutes are integrated in the network as so called Competence Centres.

About Schweizer:

Schweizer Electronic AG stands for state-of-the-art technology and consultancy competence. SCHWEIZER’s premium printed circuit boards and innovative solutions and services for automotive, solar, industry and aviation electronics address key challenges in the areas of Power Electronics, Embedding and System Cost Reduction. Its products are distinguished for their superior quality and their energy-saving and environmentally-friendly features. Together with its partners Elekonta Marek GmbH & Co. KG, Meiko Electronics Co. Ltd. and WUS Printed Circuit Co., Ltd., the company offers in its division electronics cost- and production-optimised solutions for small, medium and large series. Together with its partner Infineon Technologies AG, SCHWEIZER plans to jointly tap the chip embedding market in future.

With about 750 employees SCHWEIZER achieved sales of 110.2 million Euro in Fiscal Year 2014 (ending December). The company was founded in 1849, is managed by family members and listed at the Stuttgart and Frankfurt Stock Exchanges (ticker symbol „SCE“, „ISIN DE 000515623“).

2015

30.10.2015 | Schweizer Electronic continues to grow profitably in the third quarter

EBIT increases disproportionally by 13.8 %

Order intake boosts by 30%

Schramberg, October 30, 2015 – With cumulated revenues of EUR 88.4 Mio (previous year EUR 83.3 Mio.) and quarterly sales of EUR 28.5 Mio (previous year EUR 28.0 Mio) Schweizer Electronic AG again exceeded previous year’s figures. Operating quarterly results before interest and tax (EBIT) rose faster than turnover by 13.8% to EUR 3.3 Mio (previous year EUR 2.9 Mio). Thus the EBIT margin climbed to 11.6% against 10.4% in the previous year. As before, also the third quarter was affected by negative exchange rate fluctuations amounting to EUR 0.3 Mio in total. Adjusted by this special effect the EBIT would amount to EUR 3.6 Mio corresponding to an EBIT margin of 12.6%. The equity ratio remained stable compared to last year with 59.7% against 59.6% at the end of 2014.

Boosting by 30% to EUR 39.3 Mio against EUR 30.2 Mio the year before, incoming orders were at a particularly high level with customers from the automotive section placing 76% of the new orders, which reflects their usual turnover share. Revenues generated by innovative technology products again grew disproportionally by 14.3% to EUR 14.8 Mio, now making up 52% of SCHWEIZER’s turnover (previous year 46%). Sales with America, notably the US, showed a strong development as well and rose by 81.3% to EUR 2.9 Mio.

“Despite the increasingly challenging market environment we continued our profitable growth and exceeded the targets we had set ourselves,” says Dr. Maren Schweizer, CEO of Schweizer Electronic AG. “Our order book increased again, and the very good level of incoming orders underlines the rising demand for SCHWEIZER’s products. We expect a turnover of EUR 115 Mio for the year 2015, this is a 5% growth against last year. Considering the unscheduled special effects of EUR 1.7 Mio in the first half of 2015 and the anticipated negative currency effects of EUR 0.4 Mio for the second half of 2015, we adjust our profit forecast to EUR 8.0 – 9.0 Mio for the fiscal year 2015. This forecast lies at the upper end of our previous expectations and corresponds to an EBIT margin of 7-8%.”

07.08.2015 | Schweizer Electronic boosts sales by 8.3% in the first Half-Year 2015

EBIT before special effects increases by 14.9%

Withdrawal from business field energy

Innovative technology products continue to rise

Schramberg, August 07, 2015 – Schweizer Electronic AG closed the accounts of the first Half-Year 2015 with a turnover growth of 8.3% to 59.9 million Euro (2014: 55.3 million Euro). Sales with innovative technology products grew disproportionally by 24.8% to 30.2 million Euro, thus forming the basis of this success. The EBIT before special effects amounts to 5.4 million Euro, corresponding to a margin of 9.0% (previous year 8.5%). One-time personnel expenses and exceptional charges related to currency fluctuations in the division Electronic however, reduced the EBIT (earnings before interest and tax) to 3.7 million Euro, which corresponds to an EBIT margin of 6.2%. (EBIT 2014: 4.7 million Euro).

The company’s financing structure again remains on a high and solid level. At the end of the first half-year 2015 the equity ratio was 59.8% compared to 55.8% at the end of previous year’s period.

Due to the continuously critical overall situation on the photovoltaics market, Schweizer Electronic AG decided to withdraw from its business field energy. This business field had been established for manufacturing photovoltaic cells and modules. The PCB (printed circuit board) business with power inverters for the solar industry remains untouched by this decision.

SCHWEIZER’s turnover growth is due to an increase of output from the Schramberg production plant as well as from its Asian partner network. The turnover achieved through the plant in Schramberg rose by 6.1% to another high of 53.7 million Euro, while sales related to the Asian partner network jumped by 31.9% to 6.2 million Euro. Germany still is SCHWEIZER’s biggest market with a turnover share of 61.4%. Other regions, however, also developed favourably - in particular America, where business doubled to 5.7 million Euro, accounting for almost 10% of total sales now.

“We are very happy with the business development during the first six months of this fiscal year,” says Dr. Maren Schweizer, CEO of Schweizer Electronic AG. “Besides the stable automotive business, order income rose in particular in the industry and communication sectors. Our additional production capacities in Asia are undergoing the last phase of their customer qualification process, meaning we will be able to access further capacities for

series productions from 2016 onwards. Having withdrawn from the business field energy, we will now dedicate ourselves with even more emphasis to the expansion of our business field Electronic and the building up of the business field Systems together with Infineon.“

With a view to the future business development she adds: “Considering the starting date for series production in Asia, we are able to adjust our sales forecast for 2015 from 3-7% so far to 5-7% now, which comes up to a sales expectation of 115-118 million Euro for the fiscal year 2015. We expect our operative EBIT margin before special effects to continue its favourable development up to 8-9%, amounting to an EBIT before special effects between 9.2 and 10.6 million Euro.”

29.04.2015 | Schweizer Electronic AG increased Q1 revenues by 11 percent to a record amount of more than 30 million euro

Schramberg, 29. April 2015 – Schweizer Electronic AG today announced the financial figures for the first quarter 2015. With a turnover increase of 11 percent to 30.9 million euro for the first time in Q1, the company visibly distinguished itself from a rather slower development trend on the market. The turnover which was achieved through the Asian partner network also showed a positive trend with a total amount of 3.1 million euro, thus increasing by 34 percent against the previous year’s period (2014: 2.3 million euro).

The sales increase was in particular based on SCHWEIZER’s business successes with technologically sophisticated products, which were strongly demanded by automotive customers. Sales with this customer segment increased by 18 percent to 23.6 million euro compared to 20.0 million euro the year before. Products from the company’s innovation portfolio power electronics, embedding and system cost reduction contributed with 50 percent to total sales figures against 45 percent in 2014. This shows that SCHWEIZER continues its trend to steadily increase the turnover share of innovative high technology products.

The result before interest and tax (EBIT) amounted to 2.5 million euro (previous year 2.9 million euro), which is a decline of 0.4 million euro against last year. The EBIT was burdened by a very strong dollar with regard to the euro, with the dollar rising by 18 percent compared to the previous year’s quarter. Thus mentioned, it has to be considered that SCHWEIZER’s network of business partners is characterised by an international supplier base, while the client base is mainly from Europe.

Order income amounted to 28.5 million euro and the order backlog was 116.5 million euro at the end of the first quarter, both declining against last year’s period. This fluctuation cannot be regarded as a trend reversal of the order position. Analogous to the turnover distribution in 2014, automotive customers represented a share of 72 percent in incoming orders in the first quarter 2015.

SCHWEIZER’s equity rose to a new record of 50.1 million euro at the end of the first quarter, which is equivalent to an equity ratio of 58.9 percent. The net debt position reduced by 1.6 million in 2014 euro to 1.1 million euro this year, which is equivalent to a net gearing ratio of 2 percent.

Dr. Maren Schweizer, CEO of Schweizer Electronic AG, comments: “In the first quarter of this business year, SCHWEIZER was able to expand its leading market position and gain further market shares in the areas of mobility and efficiency, the long-term drivers of growth, and we achieved a very positive turnover increase. The development of the US dollar currency and as a consequence the production cost will remain challenging. We will therefore place a focus on measures to increase efficiency in the forthcoming quarters. Development resources for our divisions Electronic and Systems, however, will not be influenced by this, and we will continue optimising our product portfolio.” SCHWEIZER confirms its forecast for 2015. Dr. Schweizer adds: “Also in 2015, we expect to grow faster than the reference markets and to further increase our market share. From today’s perspective, a turnover increase of three to seven percent against the record sales of 2014 seems to be realistic.”

Schramberg, March 31, 2015 – Schweizer Electronic AG today released final figures for the last fiscal year. The company closed the accounts in 2014 with record sales of 110.2 million Euro (2013: 101.2 Mio Euro) and earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) of 10.0 million Euro (2013: 9.8 million Euro). This is the company’s second highest EBIT ever, and it corresponds to an EBIT margin of 9.1% (2013: 9.7%). Additional expenditure for continuing the expansion of the Asian production capacities - with focus on Vietnam - burdened the EBIT with 1.1 million Euro.

The performance at SCHWEIZER’s high technology plant in Schramberg, Germany was particularly satisfying, reporting sales of 100.3 million Euro and thus passing the historical mark of 100 million Euro (2013: 94.6 million Euro). With 50.5 million Euro, highly innovative technology products already represented 46% of the company’s total turnover, and they are expected to continue driving growth especially in Schramberg. The turnover of the Asian partner network also showed a pleasing development, boosting by 54% to 9.9 million Euro against 6.4 million Euro in 2013. Thanks to the continuously high demand SCHWEIZER’s order backlog increased again in 2014, amounting to 119.2 million Euro against 114.2 million Euro the year before. Equity capital increased to 48.4 million Euro (2013: 45.1 million Euro), which corresponds to an equity ratio of 59.6% against 58.8% the year before.

“We are very pleased with last year’s business results and – as promised – we would like to let our shareholders participate in this success. Therefore, we will suggest an increase of our dividend to 0.65 euro on occasion of our Annual General Meeting 2015”, says Dr. Maren Schweizer, CEO of Schweizer Electronic AG. And she concludes, “Our capacities are well utilised and thanks to our international production landscape, we are ideally equipped for further growth. That’s why we stick to our forecast to grow faster than our reference markets in 2015 as well.”

03.02.2015 | SCHWEIZER boosts turnover and earnings in 2014

SCHWEIZER boosts turnover to 110.2 million Euro

EBIT rises to 10 million Euro

SCHWEIZER further improves equity ratio

Schramberg, February 3rd, 2015 – According to preliminary figures, Schweizer Electronic AG closed the accounts in the fiscal year 2014 with its highest turnover ever. Sales in 2014 increased by 8.9% to 110.2 million Euro against 101.2 million Euro the year before. Earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) rose by 2% to 10 million Euro (previous year 9.8 million Euro), representing the second-highest EBIT in the company’s history, while additional expenditure for continuing the expansion of the Asian production capacities - with focus on Vietnam - burdened the EBIT with 1.1 million Euro.

With sales of 100.3 million Euro, the production performance in Schramberg, Germany, broke through the historical mark of 100 million Euro. (previous year 94.6 million Euro). Sales effected through the Asian partner network also showed a satisfactory development, boosting by 54% to 9.9 million Euro against 6.4 million Euro in 2013. Highly innovative technology products strongly contributed to SCHWEIZER’s record sales with 50.5 million Euro, representing already 46% of the total turnover. This trend is expected to continue in future particularly in Schramberg.

Despite its growth, SCHWEIZER was able to increase equity capital by 3.3 million Euro to 48.4 million Euro. This corresponds to an equity ratio of 59.5% against 58.8% the year before. Final figures will be released on March 31, 2015.

Dr. Maren Schweizer, CEO of Schweizer Electronic AG comments: “We proceeded very well in 2014 on operational as well as strategic level. We increased turnover and earnings, and our order book is well stocked. Thanks to the continuously high demand our order backlog increased again in 2014, amounting to 119.2 million Euro against 114.2 million Euro the year before. With our partner and investor WUS, we have access to additional production capacities to serve the rapidly growing market for high frequency printed circuit boards (HF PCBs). Moreover, we plan to jointly tap the chip embedding market with our partner Infineon in the coming years, as this is the future market for power electronics applications. Thus, these two new partnerships further improved our already good position in 2014.”

By investing into Schweizer Infineon emphasizes its intention to jointly develop technologies for the integration of power semiconductors into PCBs and to tap the chip embedding market for high-power automotive and industrial applications. Schweizer’s chip embedding technology will round out Infineon’s proprietary chip embedding packaging technology BLADE, used for example for direct current supply (DC/DC conversion) that is necessary for processors in computer and telecommunications systems.

Chip embedding yields advantagesWhile PCBs have chips connected to their front and backside today, chip embedding will permit in the future that the semiconductors can be “embedded” in the inside of the PCB. The PCB will become smaller. This will benefit systems in vehicles, for which there is only little space available such as the electric power steering system, active suspension or electrical pumps. Moreover, the cooling of the chips will be improved. The heat created by the chips is dissipated directly via the PCB. This is particularly beneficial in applications that require high power and whose power semiconductors needed elaborate cooling until now. These are for example the compressors in a vehicle air-conditioning system, where electrical power may reach up to 2 kilowatts (kW). In addition, the automotive industry expects the 48-volt network to gain importance besides the already present 12-volt onboard network.

Since higher electrical power can be used this way, it will be easier to expand hybrid functionality (“eTurbo” with 5kW up to 20kW) to vehicles of lower and medium price segments as well. This is where chip embedding can help.

Dr. Reinhard Ploss, CEO of Infineon Technologies AG, says: “We improve the performance and energy efficiency of vehicles and industrial applications with system competence and the use of highly innovative technologies. Our shareholding in Schweizer Electronic AG supports us on the road from product thinking to system understanding. Chip embedding yields a great added value for our customers, as their systems become more compact and even more efficient at the same time.”

Dr. Marc Schweizer, CEO of Schweizer Electronic AG, explains: “System boundaries between PCBs and semiconductors are going to change, and this requires new business models. We are expecting a high growth potential here in a few years. Infineon is the technology leader for power semiconductors and Schweizer is a leading manufacturer of high-performance printed circuit boards in the automotive and industrial segments. Owing to their excellent market positions and good customer relations, our two companies are a very good fit. We have already proven this to be the case by our jointly developed demonstrators for tailor-made customer solutions.”

And in view of the long company tradition, Dr. Schweizer adds: “In the course of its 165-year company history, Schweizer has proven time and again that it generates sustainable business development through its flexibility and capacity to quickly adjust to market trends. The agreement with Infineon is one next step to contribute to shaping the future in the electronics industry.”

Infineon is technologically leading in power semiconductors and Schweizer is leading in high-performance PCBs. As suppliers of the automotive industry, each of the companies is the number two in the global ranking of their product markets.

For several years already, Infineon and Schweizer have collaborated in automotive electronics. In October 2013, for example, they presented a jointly developed battery switch, which enables the car battery to be safely disconnected in case of an accident or other critical situations.

About SchweizerSchweizer Electronic AG is a global best-in-class technology company, manufacturing premium PCBs, innovative solutions and services for automotive, solar, industry and aviation electronics. Based on recognized technology and consultancy competencies, Schweizer’s products and systems address key challenges in the areas of Power Electronics, Embedding and System Cost Reduction and are characterized by energy and environmentally friendly features. Together with its partners Elekonta Marek GmbH & Co. KG, Meiko Electronics Co. Ltd. and WUS Printed Circuit., Ltd. the company offers through its electronics division cost and production optimised solutions for small, medium and large series and within this network employs more than 20,000 people in Germany, Japan, China and Vietnam.

With about 700 employees Schweizer achieved sales of 101.2 million Euro in Fiscal Year 2013 (ending December). The company was founded in 1849, is managed by family members and listed at the Stuttgart and Frankfurt Stock Exchanges (ticker symbol „SCE“, „ISIN DE 000515623“). Further information is available at www.schweizer.ag

About InfineonInfineon Technologies AG, Neubiberg, Germany, offers semiconductor and system solutions addressing three central challenges to modern society: energy efficiency, mobility, and security. In the 2013 fiscal year (ending September 30), the company reported sales of Euro 3.84 billion with close to 26,700 employees worldwide. Infineon is listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange (ticker symbol: IFX) and in the USA on the over-the-counter market OTCQX International Premier (ticker symbol: IFNNY). Further information is available at www.infineon.com

07.11.2014 | SCHWEIZER’s sales, revenues and cashflow exceed previous year’s figures at the end of the third quarter 2014

Schramberg, November 7, 2014 – With a cumulated turnover of 83.3 Mio Euro (previous year 75.6 Mio Euro) and an order backlog of 121.2 Mio Euro (previous year 107.9 Mio Euro) at the end of the third quarter 2014, SCHWEIZER again surpassed its previous year’s figures. Quarterly sales rose to 28.0 Mio Euro from 26.7 Mio Euro the year before. The company managed to expand its positioning in the automotive industry with an increase of 16 % to 20.6 Mio Euro. Cumulative EBIT by the end of the third quarter increased to 7.6 Mio Euro from 7.1 Mio Euro in last year’s period. This corresponds to an EBIT margin of 9.1%. Quarterly EBIT at the end of September was within the company’s expectations with 2.9 Mio Euro against 3.3 Mio Euro the year before and an EBIT margin of 10.4%. Cash flow from operating activities climbed to 7.3 Mio. Euro in the first three quarters of this fiscal year compared to 6.3 Mio Euro in previous year’s period.

Particularly positive is the increase of order income in the Asian production capacities. They boosted by 98% to 11.1 Mio Euro at the end of September. Total sales realised through SCHWEIZER’s Asian partner network jumped by 51% against last year to 7.4 Mio Euro by the end of September.

Dr. M. Schweizer, CEO Schweizer Electronic AG, comments, “Our business results after the first nine months of this fiscal year are really satisfying and come up to our expectations. In the third quarter, successes in our portfolio management already had an important influence on the improved results compared to the second quarter. SCHWEIZER’s clear technological positioning in the area of innovation and growth technologies for power electronics, embedding and system cost reduction made a significant contribution to the business performance. Looking forward to the year end results, we are happy to specify our forecast with expected sales of 108 Mio Euro for 2014 and an EBIT around 9 to 10 Mio. Euro, already considering our extraordinary expenses for the production start in Vietnam.”

Schramberg, August 14, 2014 – SCHWEIZER’s financial results for the first half-year 2014 came up to its expectations: Revenues boosted by 13% to 55.3 million Euro (previous year 48.9 million Euro), and net profit as well increased by 13% amounting to 2.7 million Euro (previous year 2.4 Mio Euro). This is equivalent to earnings per share of 0.72 Euro against 0.63 Euro the year before. Earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) also showed a very positive development rising 24% to 4.7 million Euro (previous year 3.8 million Euro). The EBIT margin amounts to 8.5% against 7.8% the year before.

SCHWEIZER’s level of incoming orders is promising as well: In the first half-year 2014 the company received orders amounting to 61.0 million Euro (plus 4.1% against the previous year), 72% of which being placed by customers of the automotive industry and 24% by the industry electronics sector. Revenues boosted even more than incoming orders, with sales to the most important customer groups automotive and industry climbing over-proportionally by 15% each. Looking at the product portfolio, sales of high technology products contributed with 24.0 million Euro to first half-year revenues compared to 18.0 million Euro the year before.

“After the very positive operative results in the first half-year 2014 we are able to adjust our expectations for the current fiscal year. We now expect revenues to climb by 7% in the fiscal year 2014, which is the upper end of our previous forecast. Net profit is expected to develop accordingly. Further optimisation of our portfolio management in the second half-year 2014 could generate positive effects on our earnings. SCHWEIZER’s order backlog had a value of 119.5 million Euro at the end of June 2014, thus being 20% up against last year’s period. This already is a good indication that our production capacity will be utilised up into the year 2015”, stated Dr. Marc Schweizer, CEO of Schweizer Electronic AG.

The company’s financing structure remains on a high and solid level as well. Thanks to the net profit achieved in the first half-year, SCHWEIZER’s equity increased to 47.8 million Euro (43.3 million Euro the year before). Thus, the equity ratio was 55.8% at the end of the first half-year 2014.

Schramberg, July 18, 2014 – Following the exclusive, long-term strategic alliance for the High Frequency (HF) segment, WUS Printed Circuits Co., Ltd., Kunshan/China and Schweizer Electronic AG, Schramberg/Germany, agreed on a capital transaction with WUS acquiring 4.5 % of SCHWEIZER’s shares. By acquiring this equity stake, WUS underpins its strong strategic interest in SCHWEIZER’s business. This step strengthens SCHWEIZER’s partner network even further and expands the company’s access to a pro-found internal high technology innovation pipeline.

The equity stake of 4.5 % sold to WUS was taken from the share pool of the SCHWEIZER family and SCHWEIZER treasury shares.

“Only less than 3 months ago, SCHWEIZER and WUS agreed on their exclusive, long-term strategic partnership which allows us and our customers access to further HF production capacities in Asia. We are very pleased about this soon capital transaction since it enhances WUS’ strong interest in exploiting the business opportunities for HF PCBs on the global automotive market together with SCHWEIZER”.

“The HF market is going to increase fivefold over the next five years, and will have increased ten times by 2024. SCHWEIZER’s HF sales boosted by almost 200 % in 2013, and we expect further continuous growth. While our long-term strategy is to steadily increase our market share, we think that together with WUS we will be able to offer our customers supply capacities of 50 Mio EUR in the first phase. This will trigger an attractive upward potential for us”, says Dr. Marc Schweizer, CEO of Schweizer Electronic AG. And he goes on:

“Considering our international production set up, SCHWEIZER is extremely well positioned with the technology plant on our premises in Germany, the expertise and production footprint in Asia of our partner Meiko Electronics in Japan and the supplementary profound platform and resources of WUS in China, serving the HF segment”.

And Chris Wu, Managing Director of WUS Printed Circuits Co., Ltd. adds:” We realised very soon that our exclusive partnership bears a win-win solution for both companies as well as for our customers in order to face our common challenges. Therefore we decided to buy the equity stake of 4.5 %, allowing us to further participate in SCHWEIZER’s business results and to share risks as well as positive outcomes with our partner”.

04.07.2014 | SCHWEIZER increases dividend to 0.60 Euro

Schramberg, July 8, 2014 – Shareholders present at Schweizer Electronic AG’s 25th Annual Shareholders‘ Meeting on July 4, 2014 followed the proposal submitted by the Executive and Supervisory Boards and agreed to pay a dividend of 0.60 Euro per share for the fiscal year 2013. This corresponds to a dividend ratio of 44 % after allocation to the profit reserves. Following a successful fiscal year 2013, this is the fourth dividend increase in succession. Furthermore, SCHWEIZER will have employees participate in the company’s success and this way express their appreciation for the outstanding contribution. This pay-out amounting to about 500,000 Euro exceeds last year’s payment by 4 %.

Beyond the proposal for paying a dividend, the plenum, which gathered in Rottweil, agreed to all other proposals with a vast majority. With about 150 shareholders joining the meeting, 75.87 % of the share capital were represented. Additionally, about 40 guests were present.

In their speeches Dr. Marc Schweizer, CEO, and Marc Bunz, CFO, reported on a dynamic business year, which started with a weak global economy and slow customer demand with business progress being difficult to calculate. SCHWEIZER took advantage of this period by adjusting its portfolio towards products with increased added value. This significantly contributed to increasing profitability so that the company closed the fiscal year 2013 with earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) of 9.8 million Euro (previous year 5.2 million Euro). Revenues in 2013 increased to 101.2 million Euro, 42% of which were achieved by particularly innovative products compared to a share of 32% the year before. Equity ratio amounted to 58.8% (45.1 Mio EUR), the operative cash flow increased to 8.8 Mio EUR (previous year 7.2 Mio EUR).

The Shareholders’ Meeting unanimously approved the actions of the Managing Board and the Supervisory Board for the year 2013. Pursuant to schedule the four shareholders’ representatives Michael Kowalski, Christoph Schweizer, Kristina Schweizer and Christian Schmid were elected on the Supervisory Board.

26.06.2014 | Dr. Marc Schweizer was elected Board Member of Meiko Electronics

Schramberg, June 26, 2014 – SCHWEIZER is pleased to announce that Dr. Marc Schweizer, CEO of Schweizer Electronic AG, was elected Board Member of Meiko Electronics Co. Ltd today. His nomination earlier this year has been in line with the time schedule of the joint venture with Meiko Electronics, both partners agreed on in December 2012. The two companies joined forces in order to build a common production line for the manufacturing of PCBs dedicated to European customers in the automotive and industry segments. The election today is a proof that MEIKO’s shareholders are committed to this partnership as well.

“I am honoured to be elected Board Member of MEIKO. Following the foundation of our partnership with MEIKO in April 2009, our mutual shareholding and the foundation of our joint venture in 2012, my nomination has been the next milestone within the timeline we set ourselves for our partnership. It is very pleasing to see that MEIKO’s shareholders support this nomination and our cooperation. At the same time the election marks a step towards internationalisation of MEIKO’s Board,” says Dr. Marc Schweizer, CEO of Schweizer Electronic AG.

25.06.2014 | Dr. Marc Schweizer was reappointed Board Member of ZVEI

Schramberg, June 25, 2014 – On occasion of the general meeting of the ZVEI (Zentralverband Elektrotechnik- und Elektronikindustrie), the German electrical and electronic manufacturers association, in Munich Dr. Marc Schweizer, CEO of Schweizer Electronic AG, was reappointed Member of the entire Board of ZVEI. The ZVEI association represents the economic, technological and environmental interests of the German electrical industry at national, European and global levels.

Dr. Marc Schweizer is not only member of the entire Board of ZVEI but has also been appointed member of the Economic Committee of the entire ZVEI. Furthermore, he has been engaged in the specialised PCB group (printed circuit board) of the ZVEI trade association PCB and Electronic Components for several years. With over 160 member companies, this trade association – together with the ZVEI trade association Electronic Components and Systems - acts as industrial policy platform and mouthpiece in order to promote necessary and adequate framework conditions for the PCB, IC (integrated circuit) and surface mounting sector.

“Exchange and engagement within the ZVEI industry association are part of my responsibility as manufacturer and market participant of the electronic industry. This is a good opportunity for me and my company to actively promote essential trends and discuss the customers’ challenges on a constructive level with representatives from business and politics in order to find the best possible solutions and push important developments along the electronic value-added chain,” says Dr. Marc Schweizer, CEO of Schweizer Electronic AG.

With the goal of improving traffic safety at dusk and in low-light conditions, the German Federal Ministry of Research and Education (BMBF) will be sponsoring the research pro-ject “VoLiFa2020” over the next three years. This joint effort is working to develop a fully adaptive automobile headlight system and is being financed under the "Photonics Re-search Germany" program. Project partners include lighting systems manufacturer HELLA, heading the effort, Elmos Semiconductor AG, Merck, the Porsche Engineering Group, Schweizer Electronic AG and the University of Paderborn. As a team, this group of contributors possesses the expertise required for all stages of the project.

The latest road accident statistics for Europe show that driving has never been safer than in 2013. Over the last years, numerous innovations have helped improve traffic safety sig-nificantly. Despite this progress, the risk of a fatal traffic accident at night or dusk continues to be considerably higher than during daylight hours.

In order to increase road users’ safety when driving in low-light conditions, the German Federal Ministry of Research and Education (BMBF) will be sponsoring the “VoLiFa2020” project, which is working to develop a fully adaptive light projection system for intelligent, efficient and safe vehicle lighting. The BMBF is providing around EUR 2 million under the auspices of the "Photonics Research Germany" program. The planned system will enable lighting that can intelligently and seamlessly adapt to various specific driving conditions in almost real-time. Vehicles therefore will be able to selectively illuminate a wide variety of traffic conditions, thereby allowing drivers to detect dangerous situations and obstacles much faster.

The research consortium, led by the lighting systems manufacturer HELLA (http://www.hella.com), covers nearly the entire research and value chain of a headlight system, from development to the user. While the chemical and pharmaceutical company Merck (www.merckgroup.com) is supplying special liquid crystals and thereby laying the foundation to manufacture the headlight system, the chip and hardware producers Elmos Semiconductor AG (http://www.elmos.com/) and Schweizer Electronic AG (http://www.schweizer.ag) are designing the electronic components as well as customer-specific circuit boards. HELLA is responsible for developing the optical systems as well as integrating the various components into an overall system.

In the truest sense of the phrase, the consumer's point of view plays a key role in the pro-ject “VoLiFa2020”. L-LAB, the research institute for lighting technology and mechatronics supported by the University of Paderborn (http://www.l-lab.de), and the automobile manu-facturer Porsche (http://www.porsche.com/germany/) are drafting the system requirements, taking into account the subjective perceptual aspects of all road users.

For those participating in the project, the headlight system being developed offers a diverse range of potential applications, from use in cars and other classes of vehicles such as trucks and buses, to the application of individual project components in other branches of industry. Given the growing volume of traffic, the increasing need for safety, and the trend toward ever more advanced driver assistance systems, there will be considerable demand for intelligent lighting systems.

Besides the direct application of the research results, the successful completion of the project also bears significant potential to strengthen Germany’s technological competitiveness since nearly the entire value chain falls within its borders.

Schramberg, April 30, 2014 - Schweizer Electronic AG today announced their financial figures for the first quarter 2014. Within this period the company achieved sales revenues of 27.8 million Euro (previous year 23.6 million Euro), which is a turnover increase of 18% against last year’s period. The result before interest and tax (EBIT) amounted to 2.9 million Euro (previous year 1.3 million Euro). EBIT margin was at 10% (previous year 6%).

With an order entry of 35.0 million Euro in the reporting year (previous year 27.4 million Euro), SCHWEIZER registered an increase of 28% compared to the previous year. Incoming orders in the first quarter of 2014 were by 30% higher than revenues, giving reason for a positive short-term outlook as regards the company’s sales development. The order backlog amounted to 121.4 million Euro at the end of March (previous year 93.4 million Euro).

Financial and liquidity figures as well improved to a major extent. The equity ratio increased to 46.9 million Euro, which is equivalent to an equity ratio of 58% (Dec. 31, 2013: 58.8%). The net debt position remained stable with 2.7 million Euro, which is equivalent to a net gearing ratio of 6%.

„With our order backlog having increased again since the end of last year to currently 121.4 million Euro, our capacities are already well-utilized. By expanding our partner network with reliable and experienced international market players, we are opening the door to benefit from extended production capacities and are thus well-established to meet the requirements of already existing as well as future customers. Thanks to our additional partnership with WUS, our customers will have access to further High Frequency production capacities in Asia, while we continue our joint venture with MEIKO and ramp up our production capacities in Vietnam. In parallel SCHWEIZER invests in its technology headquarter in German in order to focus its production on further innovations”, says Dr. Marc Schweizer, CEO of Schweizer Electronic AG.

For the fiscal year 2014 the company expects revenues to boost by 3 to 7% in comparison with last year. Following these expectations for sales growth as well as changes to the product portfolio, Schweizer Electronic AG anticipates a slight increase of its net profit in 2014. Further growth is expected for 2015, provided that the global economic development will remain stable. These forecasted developments do not take account any contributions towards sales and net profit, which are envisaged as a result from the partnership for HF PCBs with the company WUS.

28.04.2014 | WUS and SCHWEIZER agree on partnership for the HF segment

Schramberg, April 28, 2014 – WUS Printed Circuits Co., Ltd., Kunshan/China and Schweizer Electronic AG, Schramberg/Germany, concluded an exclusive long-term agreement on the cooperation for the production of High Frequency Printed Circuit Boards (HF PCBs) for the global automotive and industrial market.

Due to the increasing global demand for specific base materials and hybrid assemblies, the market for HF PCBs is growing at a fast pace, urging industry players to join forces in order to provide their customer with the desired quantities. HF PCBs are required for applications such as adaptive cruise control and lane change assistance, thus enabling autonomous driving in the future.

Thanks to their longstanding engagement in the telecommunications segment, WUShas a profound technological platform and the appropriate resources to enter this partnership. Furthermore, the company has a proven track record of more than 40 years’ in the PCB market.

With a global market share of around 30% SCHWEIZER is one of the market leaders in the segment of automotive HF PCBs. By partnering up with WUS, SCHWEIZER is able to refer to extended production capacities in order to expand its market position.

Customers will benefit from their established and successful interfaces with SCHWEIZER and a targeted and quick technology transfer from Schramberg to Kunshan securing a second source in case of supply shortages. Furthermore, a continuous know-how transfer from Germany to China will ensure extended delivery capacities for next generation products as well.

“Maintaining a sound and healthy growth of SCHWEIZER, which is based on a long and successful business history of 165 years with long-term partnerships, is one of our obligations towards all our stakeholders. Timing remains critical for success. Thanks to our additional partnership with WUS, our customers will have access to further HF production capacities in Asia, while we continue our joint venture Meiko Schweizer Electronics and ramp up our production capacities in Vietnam. With the expertise and process know-how of our partner MEIKO and the supplementary profound platform and resources of WUS, we have a sound and reliable production setup in Asia and are well prepared to meet the requirements of our customers. I am convinced that this will strengthen our value proposition and that it will be to the benefit of our customer as well as the three companies.” says Dr. Marc Schweizer, CEO Schweizer Electronic AG.

And Chris WUS, Managing Director of WUS Printed Circuits Co., Ltd., adds:” This is a win-win solution for both companies as well as for our customers in order to face our common challenges. We are very happy to enter this partnership with SCHWEIZER and to contribute with our technical platform and our resources to expanding the international business activities of SCHWEIZER’s partner network.”

31.03.2014 | SCHWEIZER increases dividend to 0.60 Euro per share

Schramberg, March 31, 2014 – Schweizer Electronic AG today released final figures for the fiscal year 2013, showing earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) of 9.8 million Euro (previous year 5.2 million Euro). This corresponds to an EBIT margin of 9.7% (previous year 5.2%) and an increase of 88% against last year. With an annual result of 6.1 million Euro, previous year’s net profit was surpassed by 782%, which corresponds to earnings per share of 1.62 Euro.

Revenues in 2013 increased to 101.2 million Euro compared to 100.2 million Euro in 2012.

Climbing from 71.3 million Euro (previous year) to 126.6 million Euro, incoming orders showed a significant positive development last year, which is mainly due to customer inquiries from the automotive sector. Thanks to the extremely high innovative power of this customer segment, the order volume last year more than doubled compared to 2012. Order intake from industry electronics also developed favourably, ensuring that SCHWEIZER could start the new fiscal year with an order backlog of 114.2 million Euro (previous year 89.8 million Euro).

In the previous fiscal year, Schweizer Electronic AG was able to increase equity capital by 4.1 million Euro to 45.1 million Euro. This corresponds to an equity ratio of 58.8% at the end of the fiscal year.

Due to the very positive business progress and the company’s solid economic situation, SCHWEIZER’s Executive Board and the Supervisory Board will be suggesting a dividend of 0.60 Euro (previous year 0.55 Euro) on occasion of the Annual General Meeting on July 4, 2014. This represents an increase of more than 9% and is the third dividend increase in succession.

Based on positive forecasts for the global economic development as well as for SCHWEIZER’s market segments, the company this year expects revenues to boost by 3 to 7% in comparison with last fiscal year. Following these expectations for sales growth as well as changes to the product portfolio Schweizer Electronic AG anticipates a slight increase of its net profit in 2014.

10.02.2014 | SCHWEIZER is one of the 800 best employers in Germany

Among all medium-sized companies in Baden-Württemberg, SCHWEIZER is in 6th place in the category Electronics/Electrical Engineering/Medical Devices

Schramberg, 10 February 2014 – Schweizer Electronic AG is among Germany's best employers in 2014. This is the result of an independent survey conducted by the German news magazine FOCUS.

FOCUS magazine in cooperation with XING, the leading professional network in German-speaking countries, and the largest German employer assessment portal carried out the assessment based on objectively defined criteria. These included management qualities and professional perspectives as well as salaries and the employer's image. The staff's willingness to recommend their employer was also assessed.

In total, 800 employers convinced their employees and won an award. SCHWEIZER came in 6th in the category Electronics/Electrical Engineering/Medical Devices among all medium-sized companies in Baden-Württemberg.

Dr. Marc Schweizer, CEO of Schweizer Electronic AG, is very happy about the award. "We are glad to have achieved such a result in an independent survey. This confirms our mission as employer to provide more than just work. As a family-owned company with a long tradition, a good working atmosphere and an attractive workplace are not the only important features to us. All of our actions also involve the aim to guarantee a strong and healthy company future generations may also benefit from. This award underlines our philosophy." Nicolas Schweizer, Chief Commercial Officer of Schweizer Electronic AG, adds: "We always take special care that our staff is at ease with their workplace and that they enjoy doing what they do. We encourage this by guaranteeing a high level of individual responsibility and providing attractive working conditions and generous fringe benefits. That our employees appreciate our efforts and that this could even be confirmed by an independent survey shows that focusing on our staff is the right way to continue as a successful company in the future. Of course, we will continue to pursue this approach. In the future, we will focus more, for example, on flexible working conditions as well as work-life-balance. I would like to dedicate this award to all our employees who do a great job every day and who make us what we are."

10.01.2014 | SCHWEIZER receives EN 9100 certification

Schramberg, January 10, 2014 - Schweizer Electronic AG has been successfully audited based on EN 9100 and is a certified supplier for the aerospace industry. Thus, the company is now in the position to also supply customers of the aerospace industry with its premium and innovative PCB solutions, focussing on power electronics, embedding and system cost reduction. In avionics, too, electrification relentlessly advances and strives for the reduction of fuel, CO2 and weight.

At the end of last year, SCHWEIZER also successfully passed audits based on ISO 14001 „Environmental Management“, ISO 50001 „Energy Management“ and recertification based on ISO/TS 16949 „Automotive“.

Thus the company performed four audits in 2013, among them three first-time certifications, which were all passed successfully. All certifications have been incorporated into an integrated management system.

„By obtaining certificates we have independent parties confirm that our products are manufactured based on internationally determined quality standards and that – related to environment, labour and health protection - we do more than required by law“, stresses Nicolas Schweizer, Chief Commercial Officer of Schweizer Electronic AG. „This is a clear confirmation for our customers that the company continues to be a partner with profound know-how and recognized quality for our established client base and new customers.“

The increasing trend towards high tech and innovative products in the European PCB market forms the basis of this collaboration. It is a constant challenge for suppliers to provide customers with adequate technology samples in high quality which are suitable for subsequent serial production.

Via the cooperation with SCHWEIZER, Elekonta, a company focussing on prototype manu-facturing of PCBs, expands its service for existing customers. Following the successful ex-ecution of prototypes, these customers will then have the option of having SCHWEIZER produce mid-size and high-volume series. SCHWEIZER’s customers, on the other hand, will be offered a second source for the production of samples via Elekonta.

In their collaboration and for the benefit of their customers, the partners will concentrate on the area of new technologies, the related exchange of trends and the multiplying factor connected to it. Initially, Elekonta and SCHWEIZER will focus on HDI, thick copper, HF and impedance-controlled PCBs.

„The new partnership will ensure that technology samples can later on be produced in ad-equate quality and reliability in high volumes” says Christian Rössle, Vice President Sales & Marketing at SCHWEIZER.

And Lars Presche, Managing Director with Elekonta Marek, adds: “Via this cooperation we would like to generate for our customers an additional value-add in the product life cycle and to counter the continuously growing trade business”.

Schramberg, November 8, 2013 – Schweizer Electronic AG today announces their financial figures for the third quarter 2013, ending September 30. Highest values each for order entry, sales and EBIT margin confirm the positive development of the current fiscal year. Continuous improvements resulted in the fact that SCHWEIZER increases its sales expectations for the PCB business from more than EUR 90 million to approx. EUR 100 million and expects an EBIT margin of 7.0 – 7.5 % (up to now more than 5 %).

From July to September, the company achieved sales of EUR 26.7 million (previous year EUR 23.8 million). Thus, sales increased by approx. 12 % compared to the same period in 2012 and therefore exceeds the company’s expectations. Earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) amounted to EUR 3.3 million (previous year EUR 1.2 million). This corresponds to an EBIT margin of 12 % (previous year 5 %).

With an order entry of EUR 35.2 million (previous year EUR 20.4 million), the company registered an increase of 73 % compared to the third quarter of the previous year. The positive development was driven particularly by customers from the automotive and industry segment.

“In the current fiscal year we still expect a declining European PCB market in the range of around 10 %. We were able to clearly resist this trend”, says Dr. Marc Schweizer, CEO of Schweizer Electronic AG. “There are primarily three reasons which allow the company to positively look at the coming years. Firstly: the right products, based on innovations addressing today’s megatrends mobility and energy efficiency; secondly the right strategy, which will generate added value for our customers and thirdly our presence in the right, namely the growing regions, like Asia.”

Schramberg, October 24, 2013 – On Wednesday this week and ahead of schedule, the Supervisory Board of Schweizer Electronic AG has reappointed Board Members Dr. Marc Schweizer and Nicolas Schweizer until 2018. Their contracts were previously ending July 2015 resp. March 2016. Dr. Marc Schweizer has been a member of the Executive Board since April 1, 2005 and was appointed CEO in 2007. Nicolas Schweizer is a member of the Executive Board since April 1, 2011.

Based on the growing internationalisation of Schweizer Electronic AG, the company announced at the same time organizational changes on Board level, effective November 1, 2013. As of this point in time, Nicolas Schweizer, Chief Commercial Officer, and Bernd Schweizer, Chief Operating Officer, will be jointly responsible for the Division Electronic based in Schramberg, site of the company’s headquarters.

The scope of responsibilities of Marc Bunz, Chief Financial Officer, will remain unchanged. In his current function, he is also accountable for the orchestrating of the Asian and European activities.

In his function as CEO, Dr. Marc Schweizer will continue to concentrate on strategic topics and in parallel advance the internationalization of the company, particularly the collaboration with the cooperation partner Meiko Electronics. For this reason he will relocate his regular place of work to Asia in November.

Thus, the Board of Directors will continue to jointly assume responsibility for the commercial interests of the Schweizer Group, its international sites and the various divisions.

16.10.2013 | Infineon and SCHWEIZER present a Demonstrator of a high-performance Battery Switch during Congress „Electronics in the Vehicle"

Baden-Baden, October 16, 2013 – On the occasion of the VDI congress „Electronics in the Vehicle“ („Elektronik im Fahrzeug“), taking place October 16 to 17 in Baden-Baden, Infineon Technologies AG and Schweizer Electronic AG for the first time present a jointly developed demonstrator of a high-performance battery switch. This battery switch demon-strates how, on smallest installation space, entire battery circuits or subnets can be switched electronically, at impressive benchmark data of 400 A static current and 7,200 A peak current.

On the one hand, this is enabled by the latest MOSFET generation of Infineon Technologies AG with the new innovative TO-leadless package in combination with the 40 V OptiMOS™ semiconductor technology, and on the other hand, via PCB Inlay technology of Schweizer Electronic AG, with copper inlays of 2 mm thickness for maximum ampacity and heat dissipation.

Typical applications for the battery switch are the replacement of today’s pyroelectric solutions; the switching of high current loads or partial battery nets in vehicle operation as well as in parking mode; the prevention of electromigration and corrosion of electronic components, as well as the optimization of no-load and fault currents. It is also possible to use the device as a battery break-switch in order to detach from on-board power supply in case of transportation or seasonal shutdown of a car.

With the IPLU300N04S4-R7 of Infineon, 40 V MOSFETs of the latest generation of TO-leadless packages are applied which have been designed particularly for lowest on-state resistance (84 µOhm), highest ampacity (300 A DC) and best cooling (0.35 K/W). Despite increased performance data, the necessary footprint decreases by 30 % compared to D²PAK. Thus, very compact, power dissipation-efficient and robust high power solutions are possible, which – due to economic and technical restraints - could not be realized in such a way in the past.

The PCB Inlay technology of SCHWEIZER complements the remarkable semiconductor performance through outstanding ampacity and optimum heat spread, which is already established in the automotive area. By means of mature setup technologies, the additive thermal resistance within the PCB can be decreased to < 0.1 K/W. The on-state resistance amounts to 29 µOhm, in total resulting in a terminal-terminal on-state resistance of only 113 µOhm. Thus, the mentioned parameters significantly contribute to heat dissipation and to an efficient cooling of the semiconductor.

In an impressive way, the demonstrator proves the possibilities of today’s state-of-the art MOSFET and PCB technologies. When developing their systems, customers of both companies will largely benefit from the advantages of such a battery switch.

14.08.2013 | Sales and EBIT of SCHWEIZER in the first Half-Year 2013 fully in Line with Plan – Order Entry more than doubled

Schramberg, August 14, 2013 – Schweizer Electronic AG today announced its financial figures for the first half-year 2013. Within this period the company could achieve sales revenues of 48.9 (previous year 53.7) million Euro. The EBIT margin amounted to 7.8 % (previous year 6.9 %). Hence SCHWEIZER confirms its forecast for the current financial year, expecting sales for PCB to be over 90 million Euro and an EBIT margin of more than 5 %.

Within the first six months of the reporting period, numerous orders were acquired. With 58.6 million Euro (previous year 28.5 million Euro) order entries were thus doubled compared to the same period of the previous year. A continued robust automotive sector accounted for 76.5 % of new orders and thus proved to be stable with 44.7 million Euro (previous year 45.4 million Euro).The significant increase of new orders can be attributed to a recovery of the industry sector which – in the previous year - was characterized by order postponements and cancellations, particularly in solar electronics. By way of contrast, new orders from industry electronics (without solar) developed rather positively in the year 2013. These amounted to 10.3 million Euro (previous year 2.4 million Euro) and thus more than quadrupled.

„The sales share of technology products from our innovation focuses Power Electronics, Embedding and System Cost Reduction increased to 36.9 %", reports Dr. Marc Schweizer, CEO of the company. „This underlines the success of our strategy of developing the PCB from a pure connection carrier to a system."

In the first half-year, SCHWEIZER made an equity contribution of 2.2 million Euro to the innovations Joint Venture MEIKO-SCHWEIZER Electronics, Hong Kong, for the common production line in Hanoi/Vietnam. There, PCBs - dedicated to European customers in the automotive and industries sectors - will be manufactured.

14.08.2013 | Half-Year Financial Report as of June 30, 2013

09.07.2013 | SCHWEIZER increases dividend by 17 %

Schramberg, July 9, 2013 – Shareholders present at Schweizer Electronic AG’s annual shareholders‘ meeting on July 5, 2013 followed the proposal submitted by the Executive and Supervisory Boards and agreed to pay a dividend of 0.55 Euro per share for the fiscal year 2012. This corresponds to a dividend ratio of 52 % based on the balance sheet profit. Thus shareholders benefit from the positive course of the business year and a dividend payment increased by 17 % compared to the previous year. Furthermore, SCHWEIZER will have employees participate in the company’s success and this way express their appreciation for the outstanding contribution. This payout, amounting to about 480,000 Euro, exceeds last year’s payment by 9 %.

Beyond the proposal for paying a dividend, the plenum, which gathered in Rottweil, agreed to all other proposals with a vast majority. As about 100 shareholders joined the meeting, 83 % of the share capital was represented. Additionally, about 70 guests were present.

In their speeches Dr. Marc Schweizer, CEO, and Marc Bunz, CFO, reported on a challeng-ing, however, with regards to the advancement of Schweizer Electronic AG, a successful fiscal year. SCHWEIZER was able to achieve net indebtedness around zero, an equity ratio of 57.1 %, an operative cash flow of 7.2 million Euro and a significant sales increase with innovative products for the segment automotive.

During the shareholders’ meeting, the Chief Executive Officer underlined that the company - despite continued pressure from competition and uncertain economic climate - looks op-timistically ahead. The reasoning behind is that SCHWEIZER expands its business in the growing regions. Furthermore, the company focusses on products and solutions that con-tribute to exploiting energy in a more efficient way and using savings potentials in con-sumption of fuel and energy as well as emissions. Challenges arising in the areas of mobility and energy efficiency will continue to be core of the divisions Electronic, Energy and Systems.

Schweizer Electronic AG today announced their financial figures for the first quarter 2013. Within this period, the company achieved sales revenues of 23.6 (previous year 28.4) million Euro. Thus, sales were 17 % lower with regards to the comparison period in 2012 and are in line with the company’s expectations. The result before interest and tax (EBIT) amounted to 1.3 million Euro (previous year 2.2 million Euro). EBIT margin was hence at 6 % (previous year 8 %).

With an order entry of 27.4 million Euro (previous year 22.7 million Euro) in the reporting period, the company registered an increase of 21 % compared to the previous year. This positive development was particularly shaped by customers from the automotive segment, who still acted cautiously in the previous year.

The equity ratio, too, developed positively and increased to 41.9 million Euro (Dec. 31, 2012: 40.9 million Euro) in the reporting period. The balance sheet total increased, compared to year’s end. This is particularly due to liabilities resulting from deliveries and services which grew by 1.9 million Euro to 5.4 million Euro. As a consequence, equity ratio slightly decreased to 56 % (Dec. 31, 2012: 57 %). Liabilities increased due to the noticeably raised sales and order entry in the first quarter.

„With regards to a declining European market and despite increased order entry we remain cautiously optimistic. In autumn last year, we have already initiated measures to stabilize our margin and have thus prepared ourselves for a difficult market environment. Beyond these measures we have accelerated the internationalisation of our division Electronic and will deploy the division Energy with a tapered business model. This way, SCHWEIZER will be increasingly represented in Asia and can profit from the growth in this region“, says Dr. Marc Schweizer, CEO of Schweizer Electronic AG.

Based on the insights at hand and the development of the European markets, the company expects sales for its PCB business of more than 90 million Euro as well as an EBIT margin of more than 5 % for the current fiscal year.

Schramberg, March 28, 2013 – Schweizer Electronic AG today published results of its fiscal year 2012. Sales of 100.2 million Euro were within the guidance. In the past year, the company achieved earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) and before special effects of 5.2 million Euro (previous year 8.3 million Euro). Thus, the EBIT margin was 5.2 % (previous year 7.9 %).

Despite the economic uncertainties of the past year, SCHWEIZER succeeded in keeping its balance sheet structures on a very good level. At the end of the year 2012 equity amounted to 40.9 million Euro (previous year 42.0 million Euro). The equity ratio was 57.1 % (previous year 59.0 %). With 1.0 million Euro (previous year -1.1 million Euro) net debts were on a continuously low level.

The annual result of 0.7 million Euro was below the results of the previous year (6.5 million Euro). A devaluation of the share in Meiko Electronics by 2.8 million Euro burdened the financial result. This measure became necessary as a reduction of the evaluation the Meiko share at the capital market occurred. Thus the share in Meiko has been evaluated with 1.8 million Euro (previously 4.6 million Euro) in our financial assets.

In its past fiscal year the company already recorded 32 % of sales with products and solution from its innovation focuses Power Electronics, Embedding and System Cost Reduction. With an innovative portfolio SHWEIZER addresses applications that foster and support energy efficiency and mobility. The success of such solutions is manifested, among others, by sales with customers in the automotive industry of 65.3 million Euro in 2012, the highest in the company‘s history yet.

Consequently, shareholders will benefit from the sustained positive business results. Hence, the Executive Board and Supervisory Board will propose to the annual shareholder meeting on July 5, 2013 the distribution of a dividend of 0.55 Euro per share for the fiscal year. Based on the increasingly solid economic situation and a debt relief of the company to the largest extent, SCHWEIZER is able to increase the dividend for the second time in succession. According to the dividend policy of SCHWEIZER, the dividend is scaled on the basis of the freely available liquidity.

2012

17.12.2012 | MEIKO and SCHWEIZER plan Joint Venture for production of PCBs in Vietnam

Singapore, December 17, 2012 – Schweizer Electronic Singapore Pte. Ltd., a member of the Schweizer Group, and Meiko Elec. Hong Kong Co. Ltd., a member of Meiko Electronics Co., Ltd., plan to found a Joint Venture for the purpose of producing Printed Circuit Boards (PCB) in Hanoi/Vietnam. This Joint Venture will be headquartered in Hong Kong and is planned to be officially set-up in the beginning of 2013. The start of production in Vietnam is scheduled for the third quarter 2013.

Both companies have agreed to build a common production line for the manufacturing of PCBs dedicated to European customers in the automotive and industry segments. It is planned to produce standard PCBs as well as solutions which reduce the overall cost of a system, such as FR4 Flex, and power electronics solutions, like the Inlay Board.

By joining forces, SCHWEIZER and MEIKO build upon their respective market accesses to Europe and Asia, their technology expertise and their production and process know how in order to offer a wide range of products to global customers. Accommodated in MEIKO's Vietnam plant based in Hanoi, the joint production line will benefit from the infrastructure of the existing factory. This facility produces PCBs since 2011 and currently employs about 1,200 people. The production will benefit from the favourable economic conditions that Vietnam offers in comparison to other established Asian countries.

"Following the foundation of our partnership with MEIKO in April 2009, a close and successful cooperation over the past three years and our mutual shareholding, it was a logical step to further build on the valuable experience of two powerful partners", says Dr. Marc Schweizer, designated Vice President of the Joint Venture and CEO of Schweizer Electronic AG. "While SCHWEIZER is a recognized R&D partner in Europe for innovative PCB solutions, particularly for the automotive and industry segments, MEIKO is an established enterprise offering volume production mainly for the automotive and mobile industries. Thus we are convinced that our customers will benefit from this strengthened partnership."

09.11.2012 | SCHWEIZER confirms forecast for Fiscal Year 2012

Schramberg, November 9, 2012 – Schweizer Electronic AG today announced their financial figures for the third quarter 2012. Within this period, the company achieved sales revenues of 23.8 (previous year 25.6) million Euro. Thus sales of the first nine months in 2012 were at 77.5 million Euro following 83.7 million Euro in the previous year and therefore 7 % below the comparison period.

In the third quarter the company achieved an EBIT of 1.2 (previous year 2.6) million Euro. This corresponds to an EBIT-Margin of 5 % for the third quarter. EBIT for the first nine months in 2012 was 5.0 (previous year 8.3) million Euro. Thus the EBIT-Margin of 6.4 % as per end of September was within the margin of 5 % to 7 % expected for the year 2012 .

With an order entry of 20.4 million Euro (previous year 17.6 million Euro) in the reporting period, the company registered an increase of 16 % compared to the previous year. Particularly with customers from the automotive segment SCHWEIZER could achieve successes: The quarterly sales for this segment increased – despite the currently critical situation in the automotive sector – to 15.4 million Euro, following 14.3 million Euro in the third quarter of 2011. The company attributes this positive development to its innovative solutions which allow its customers a reduction of the system cost.

Equity, too, developed positively and increased during the course of the current fiscal year by 2.0 million Euro to 44.0 million Euro (Dec. 31, 2011: 42.0 million Euro). As part of this development the equity ratio increased to 61 % (previous year 59 %).

„In the light of aggravated market conditions we still have achieved good results and find ourselves within the scope of our forecast. In the areas of mobility and energy efficiency the positive trends continue to last. We therefore hold on to our strategic investments as only this way SCHWEIZER can expand its position in future. With a view to the expected development of the markets we have already decided for savings and initialized according measures. Thus we are prepared for a difficult market environment”, says Dr. Marc Schweizer, CEO of Schweizer Electronic AG.

For the current fiscal year SCHWEIZER confirms the forecast published in July: The company expects sales of 95 to 100 million Euro. For the division Electronic SCHWEIZER still projects an EBIT margin of 5 % to 7 %. Investments into its division Energy will burden the results with 1 % to 2 %.

Schramberg, September 18, 2012 – On its way across Europe, WAVE 2012 (World Advanced Vehicle Expedition) made a stop in Schramberg yesterday. The objective of this annual expedition, participating vehicles of which are being moved at 100 % by renewable energies, is to boost awareness for renewable energies and electro mobility. Schweizer Electronic AG, a recognized manufacturer of energy-efficient and environmentally-friendly products, supports this initiative.

A significant part of Printed Circuit Boards (PCBs) manufactured by SCHWEIZER is produced for the automotive industry. In this context the company dedicates their efforts to the megatrends mobility and energy efficiency, particularly to electro mobility. SCHWEIZER’s products and solutions concentrate on three innovations focusses, which are Power Electronics, Embedding and System Cost Reduction. Innovations in these areas are essential for the progress in electro mobility. Among others, SCHWEIZER has already produced PCB solutions for start-stop systems, for electro motors of 4 KW but also for high-end motors of up to 40 KW. SCHWEIZER is convinced that electro mobility, coupled innovation-friendly conditions, can maintain and create many jobs in Germany, just as is the case in Schramberg.

24.08.2012 | 2012 Half-Year Sales of SCHWEIZER fully in Line with Plan

Schramberg, August 24, 2012 – Schweizer Electronic AG today announced their financial figures for the first half-year 2012. Within this period the company could achieve sales revenues of 53.7 (previous year 58.0) million Euro. The EBIT Margin amounted to 6.9 % (previous year 9.8 %). Hence SCHWEIZER confirms the revised forecast for the full financial year published on July 5 and, in view of the economic framework conditions, considers themselves well on target.

As expected, the essential customer segments within the division Electronic developed inconsistently. Again, it became apparent that the company’s increasingly diversified target markets tendentially lead to a higher balance of the business development. Thus sales revenues with automotive customers further increased, reaching 34.4 million Euro (previous year 30.2 million Euro) and therefore represented an increasing sales share of 64 % (previous year 52 %) in the first six months of the reporting year. A good growth could also be registered in the area of electromobility. SCHWEIZER supplied PCBs worth 3.7 million Euro for this market segment which corresponds to an increase by 41 % compared to the previous year. Accordingly already 7 % of SCHWEIZER’s sales were generated in the area of electromobility. The main reason for the decline in sales, however, was the lower business volume with customers acting in solar electronics in the course of the sustained weakness of the European photovoltaic market. Sales in this customer segment declined by 8.5 million Euro to 4.5 million Euro (previous year 13.0 million Euro), representing a sales share of 8 % (previous year 22 %).

Sales with industry customers increased by 5 % to 10.9 million Euro (previous year 10.4 million Euro), while sales with other customers declined 3.9 million Euro (previous year 4.4 million Euro).

In the first half year 2012 SCHWEIZER invested 6.3 million Euro (previous year 1.7 million Euro). The major share was the equity investment of 4.3 million Euro into Schweizer Pte. Ltd. in Singapore. Means invested resulted from the capital increase in 2010 that serve the activities for setting up the Energy division in Asia.

For the current financial year SCHWEIZER reinforces sales expectations of 95 to 100 million Euro. At the same time the company expects an EBIT Margin of 5 % to 7 % for the division Electronic. The investment into the division Energy will debit results with 1 % to 2 %.

This week SCHWEIZER publishes its Half Year Report for the year 2012. The report is available on www.schweizer.ag.

11.07.2012 | SCHWEIZER pays dividend of 0.47 Euro

Schramberg, July 11, 2012 – Shareholders present at Schweizer Electronic AG’s annual shareholders’ meeting on July 6, 2012 followed the proposal submitted by the Executive and Supervisory Boards and agreed to pay a dividend of 0.47 Euro per share for the fiscal year 2011, which corresponds to a dividend ratio of 35 % based on the unappropriated profit. Thus shareholders benefit from the positive course of the business year and a dividend payment which is 12 % higher compared to 2011. Based on the current share price of 11.85 Euro the dividend yield is about 4 %. Furthermore, SCHWEIZER will have employees participate in the company’s success and this way express their appreciation for the outstanding contribution. Hence, each staff member will receive 770 Euro on average.

Beyond the proposal for paying a dividend, the plenum, which gathered in Rottweil, agreed to all other proposals with a vast majority. Among these proposals was the election of Christoph Schweizer as a member of the Supervisory Board until the shareholders’ meeting in 2014. 114 shareholders joined the meeting, who represented 86 % of the share capital. Additionally, about 50 guests were present.

In their speeches Dr. Marc Schweizer, CEO, and Marc Bunz, CFO, reported on the second best year in the company’s history. They summarized the positive results of the year 2011, sales of which was at 105.4 million Euro and thus stable compared to the previous year, and the most important parameters. SCHWEIZER was able to achieve net indebtedness below zero, an equity ratio of 59 %, an operative cash flow of 11.2 million Euro and a significant sales increase with innovative products from their modular technology kit.

During the shareholders’ meeting, the Executive Board of Schweizer Electronic AG emphasized that – despite economic uncertainties - the company looks optimistically towards the future. The Board based this attitude on the fact that SCHWEIZER concentrates on growth markets with a considerable social significance, such as energy efficiency and mobility. Thus, the company will increasingly focus on their divisions Electronic, Energy and Systems in future. The division Tracing, which is based on a cooperation with Siemens Austria, will no longer be pursued strategically.

Schramberg, May 18, 2012 – For the first time Schweizer Electronic AG exhibited their products and solutions at PCIM, Europe’s biggest tradeshow for Power Electronics. Apart from their innovations in the area of power electronics, Embedding Technology in particular was well received by customers and visitors of PCIM, which took place in Nuremberg from May 8 to 10, 2012.

SCHWEIZER offers a comprehensive spectrum of PCB solutions which master the challenges of power electronics for increasing power and corresponding heat dissipation. Beyond, these PCBs often offer the possibility of replacing hitherto used material such as ceramics and lead frames in a cost efficient way.

Highlights of the exhibition on SCHWEIZER’s booth were significant parts of their innovation set. In the area of power electronics the Inlay Board was presented which can run up to 1,200 ampere. A smart p² Pack for a 40 KW electric motor with IGBTs and diodes integrated into the PCB demonstrated SCHWEIZER’s performance in the field of (Power) Embedding. As a representative for system cost reduction, an FR4 Flex 3D PCB for a telemetry module was showcased. This module is built into a vehicle’s wheel rim and is operated in a electric formula vehicle of KA-RaceIng-Team which SCHWEIZER closely cooperates with.

Christian Rössle, Vice President Sales & Marketing at SCHWEIZER summarises as follows: „Our first participation in PCIM was extremely successful. We could welcome and thoroughly consult numerous existing and potential customers. Especially our innovative products convinced many of our visitors as they offer new solution possibilities for the challenges posed by power electronics. This positive response results in our decision to definitely participate again in PCIM in the coming year.“

SCHWEIZER also demonstrated their competency in the field of premium PCBs at SMT, a tradeshow taking place at the same time and site as PCIM. As a cooperation partner of the common booth of Fraunhofer IZM Institute, the company contributed PCBs for the production line „Future Packaging“.

Schramberg, April 16, 2012 – Last Friday the Supervisory Board of Schweizer Electronic AG has extended the existing contracts, valid until March 2013, with Executive Board members Marc Bunz and Bernd Schweizer for another five years until 2018. Marc Bunz is member of the Executive Board since April 1, 2010 and is responsible for Finance & Controlling, Information Systems, Purchasing and Investor Relations. Bernd Schweizer is in charge of Production, Supply Chain and Quality Control and is member of the Executive Board since April 1, 2008.

2011

Start of four production line for photovoltaic cells and modules in China, each with a capacity of 100 MWInvestment volume for the first production line between 50 and 60 Million USDCooperation with Schmid Group, World Market Leader for Turnkey Production lines in the area of PV-SolarSet-up of own Distribution Network in AsiaMoUs signed about Projecting of Solar Parks in two „Eco-Cities“ in China

Schramberg, November 21, 2011 – Schweizer Electronic AG, one of the leading manufacturers of premium PCBs as well as innovative solutions and services for automotive, solar and industry electronics, today informs about first concrete steps regarding the diversification of their business strategy. Following the foundation of the business division „Energy“ in spring 2011 the company an-nounced last weekend via an ad hoc release the start of a production of photovoltaic (PV) – high efficiency modules in Asia as well as the set-up own sales channels for solar parks in China. The investment volume for the first production line amounts to 50 to 60 million USD. By investing anti-cyclically, SCHWEIZER plans to participate in the expected positive development of the photovoltaic market. „We believe in the future of photovoltaic“, says Dr. Marc Schweizer, CEO of Schweizer Electronic AG, the solar strategy of the company. „Just now is the right point in time to enter the solar business. With our planned production line we are excellently positioned to directly meet future demands“, he explains.

Schramberg, November 11, 2011 – Schweizer Electronic AG today announced their financial figures for the third quarter 2011. Within this period the company could achieve sales revenues of 25.6 (previous year 28.1) million Euro. Thus sales of the first three quarters 2011 were at 83.7 (previous year 78.8) million Euro and were therefore 6,2 % above the comparison period. Despite higher sales in comparison to the first nine months 2010 SCHWEIZER could not quite achieve their sales target.

In the third quarter the company achieved - despite declining sales - an EBIT of 2.6 (previous year 4.1) million Euro. This corresponds to an EBIT-Margin of 10.2 % for the third quarter and was thus above expectations. EBIT for the first nine months in 2011 was 8.3 (previous year before special effects 9.9) million Euro. This decline is attributed to increasing cost for material and personnel. Consequently SCHWEIZER has lowered the number of temporary staff according to current requirements.

Since mid of 2009 SCHWEIZER was able to further improve their balance sheet structure. On September 30, 2011 equity capital was 42.7 million Euro and thus significantly above the previous year’s value of 26.5 million Euro. Accordingly, equity ratio increased to 55 % (previous year 41 %). Net gearing could be reduced to below zero. Therefore liquid assets were higher than all of SCHWEIZER’s interest-bearing liabilities at the end of the quarter.

„These indicators are an important basis for our financial stability, even in longer and more difficult economic cycles“, comments Dr. Marc Schweizer, CEO of Schweizer Electronic AG. „They equally open up an excellent starting basis for forward-looking targeted investments into innovations and improved technologies in the area of Printed Circuit Boards (PCB), the integration of components within the context of Schweizer Systems as well as our diversification with Schweizer Energy.“

SCHWEIZER continues their strategy and focuses further on the growth region Asia as a complement to Europe. The company mainly concentrates on the expansion of the PCB business as well the diversification by establishing new business areas. These include the creation of the business division Schweizer Systems, based on Embedding Technologies (integration of components into the PCB) and Schweizer Energy in the areas of energy creation, sales and storage in Asia.

Based on the continuing insecurities of the global economic development, the company adjusts its sales forecast for fiscal year 2011 and expects sales revenues on previous year‘s level of about 105 million Euro. Despite lower sales growth, SCHWEIZER confirms their EBIT forecast on a level of 10 million Euro to 11 million Euro for fiscal year 2011. This corresponds to an expected EBIT-margin of about 10 %, which is at the upper end of the forecast corridor. This takes into consideration all expenses for the development of the new business areas.

26.09.2011 | Dr. Marc Schweizer in the final of competition 'Entrepreneur of the Year 2011'

Schramberg/Frankfurt, September 27, 2011 - For the 15th time accountant and consulting company Ernst & Young elected Germany's best medium-sized entrepreneurs on September 23 in the Old Opera in Frankfurt. Following a multi-level and strict selection from 300 nominated companies, 65 companies made it to the final of the competition 'Entrepreneur of the Year 2011', among them Dr. Marc Schweizer, CEO of Schweizer Electronic AG. 'I am happy to belong to the finalists of this competition. This is a great personal success and also a success for all employees of Schweizer Electronic AG', Dr. Schweizer comments his reaching the final round.

‘Due to its ambitious criteria and the high-ranking jury this entrepreneur prize enjoys a high reputation for many years’, says Wolfgang Glauner, the competition's project leader.The 65 finalists distinguish themselves through particular innovation performance, thanks to the significant engagement of their qualified and highly motivated employees. They display efficient organizational structures with short decision making processes and thus can react flexibly on changing market conditions. From all of the finalists an independent jury composed of renowned experts in economy, selected the 'Entrepreneurs of the Year 2011. For the five categories Industry, Commerce, Services, Information and Communications Technology/Media and Start-Up one winner each had been announced and honored in front of top-class guests.

Innovation as a Key to Success

Companies being in the final round presented significant growth rates. They represented all industries, achieved average sales of 86 Million Euro per year and employed about 500 employees on average. In 2010 they hired about 2.600 new employees. Dr. Schweizer, too, was able to increase sales by 60 percent to 105 Million Euro and the number of employees rose by 12 percent. 'This confirms our company strategy. Our products and solutions fulfill the requirements of our customers and with our innovations we are leading in the area of PCBs', Dr. Marc Schweizer summarizes the reasons for growth.

An essential success factor of this year's finalists is the ability to quickly react on changing market conditions with innovative products and services: They invest more than average into innovations. They are therefore able to quickly bring latest developments to market and to counteract the growing consolidation in many industries. The entrepreneurs attribute the successful implementation of innovations to their qualified and committed staff. Thus education and training are playing a significant part in their companies.

About the competition, Entrepreneur of the Year

Ernst & Young are organizing the entrepreneur competition 'Entrepreneur of the Year, globally in more than 50 countries. In Germany the prize has been awarded for the 15th time. A neutral jury selects winners in five categories. This award identifies and honors peak company performances. The competition is supported by renowned companies and media, among them DZ Bank, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung and Manager Magazin.In parallel to awarding successful entrepreneurial personalities, Ernst & Young also took on the task of developing future generations of Entrepreneurs and has founded 'Entrepreneur of the Year Junior Academy'.

07.09.2011 | SCHWEIZER and ETH Zurich cooperate in the fields of Embedding and Power Electronics

Schramberg / Zurich, September 7, 2011 – Schweizer Electronic AG, third largest PCB manufacturer in Europe, and ETH Zurich (Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule Zürich), one of the leading technical-scientific universities, are cooperating in the fields of Embedding and Power Electronics.

This cooperation focuses on the realization of extremely flat power electronic converters for applications in the areas of photovoltaic, automotive engineering, smart surfaces, flat screens and illumination engineering. It comprises the draft of new circuit concepts, modelling, simulation, multiple-criteria-optimization of systems, integration of active and passive components into the PCB as well as the assembly and metrological analysis of corresponding demonstrators.

In a first step ultra-flat magnetic components are built, dedicated to transformers with nanocrystalline magnet cores and an overall height of only one millimetre. These components are to provide evidence that, despite the extreme minimization of height, a level of efficiency can be achieved that is comparable to conventional power supply or even better. Furthermore, the cooperation should serve to converting solutions for embedding of power semiconductors into tangible applications.

“This partnership with the ETH Zurich will further strengthen our competency with regards to the realisation of highly efficient solutions in the field of power electronics in combination with embedding technologies. Furthermore, it will enable us to speeding up the implementation of innovations”, says Dr. Marc Schweizer, CEO of Schweizer Electronic AG. “This is of considerable importance, particularly for the target markets automotive, industry and solar. Thus, cooperating with the renowned ETH, will certainly maximise the benefit for our customers.”

Professor Dr. Johann W. Kolar, Director of Power Electronic Systems laboratory at ETH Zurich, also comments on the cooperation: “Research collaboration with Schweizer Electronic AG offers the possibility of realising new power supply concepts with a technology that will capture and revolutionize numerous applications of power electronics in future. This way we can forge a bridge from concept and theoretical analysis to building demonstrators with excellent performance as well as methods of calculation and design tools for a next generation of power electronics that is merged with the application. This evolution will significantly support the highly efficient operation of electrical systems and the use of renewable energy at low cost.”

About Schweizer:

Schweizer Electronic AG is a leading manufacturer of premium PCBs, innovative solutions and services for automotive, solar and industry electronics. Based on recognized technology and consultancy competencies, SCHWEIZER’s products and systems address central challenges in the areas of Power Electronics, Embedding and System Cost Reduction and are characterized by energy and environmentally friendly features. Together with its partners Contag GmbH and Meiko Electronics Co. Ltd. the company offers cost and production optimised solutions for small, medium and large series and within this network employs more than 13.000 people in Germany, Japan, China and Vietnam.

With about 750 employees SCHWEIZER achieved sales of 105.4 million Euro in Fiscal Year 2010 (ending December). The company was founded in 1849, is managed by family members and listed at the Stuttgart Stock Exchange (ticker symbol „SCE“, „ISIN DE 000515623“).

About ETH Zurich:

ETH Zurich stands for excellent science, groundbreaking fundamental research and for applying the results for the benefit of society. Founded in 1855, ETH Zurich today counts more than 16,000 students from about 80 countries, thereof 3500 doctoral candidates. Being a globally leading technical-scientific university, ETH offers researchers an inspiring environment and a comprehensive education for students. 21 Nobel Prize winners, having studied, taught or researched at ETH, are underlining the excellent reputation of the university.

26.08.2011 | Half Year Financial Report 2011

26.08.2011 | SCHWEIZER continues Successful Course in the First Half Year

Schramberg, August 26, 2011 – In the first half year of 2011 Schweizer Electronic AG was able to continue the successful course of the previous year. After the past Fiscal Year had already been completed with record figures, sales in the first half of 2011 even exceeded expectations. In the first half year, sales volume increased to 58.0 million Euro (previous year 50.8 million Euro), a plus of 14 % compared to the corresponding first half of the previous year. EBITDA was at 8.2 million Euro and EBIT was at 5.7 million Euro. Based on these results, earnings per share were 1.27 Euro for the first half year 2011, an increase by 15 % compared the same period of last year, adjusted by special effects.

This increase resulted mainly from customers in the automotive and industry segments. With sales of 30.2 million Euro (previous year 25.2 million Euro), the automotive segment represents 52 % (previous year 50 %) of total sales of the first half year. This success was primarily achieved through SCHWEIZER’s innovative solutions within the fields of System Cost Reduction and Power Electronics which precisely meet requirements of the automotive industry. The industry segment, too, grew disproportionately in the first half year 2011. Sales of 10.4 million Euro (previous year 5.8 million Euro) was supported by a positive market development in the field of control electronics. In the first months of 2011, the market for photovoltaic was characterized by insecurity and weak business volumes on our customers’ side. For SCHWEIZER this lead to noticeable declines in sales in this customer segment. Whereas in the first half year 2010 sales of 15.9 million Euro could be achieved, sales in the first half year of 2011 were reduced by 18 % to 13.0 million Euro.

In the past months the company’s financial stability was further significantly improved and the balance sheet grounds on a solid foundation. This is sustained by an equity ratio of more than 50 % and a net gearing of smaller 5 %. The financial situation allows for a well-resourced entrepreneurial room to move and is the basis for SCHWEIZER’s diversification strategy.

The company strategy is focused on the Asian growth region as a complement to its European business. Furthermore, the concentration on the dynamic topics mobility and energy efficiency in the sales segments Automotive, Solar and Industry opens up disproportional growth opportunities. In parallel, SCHWEIZER accordingly and consistently gears its portfolio to mastering the challenges of its target markets by offering a range of technological possibilities, which can be combined with one another in a modular manner. The implementation of this strategy is based on the company's structuring into four business segments. The existing segments of PCBs and Tracing are to be expanded. The Systems and Energy segments are being established and their structure will contribute to the complementary enhancement of the existing business areas. The creation of these new segments represents a first step in the tactical implementation of SCHWEIZER's diversification strategy. In the context of this diversification strategy, the company announced the foundation of Schweizer Energy Pte. Ltd. in Singapore in May. This new company is at the centre of developing Asian markets in the field of energy generation and energy storage.

Globally, first insecurities caused by the debt crises are looming ahead. Nevertheless the company confirms its expectations for the Fiscal Year 2011 for a sales increase of up to 110 to 120 million Euro and an EBIT-Margin of 9 % to 10 %.

This week SCHWEIZER publishes its Half Year Report for the year 2011. The report is available on www.schweizer.ag.

22.07.2011 | SCHWEIZER invests 10 million Euro into its site in Schramberg

Schramberg, July 22, 2011 – Schweizer Electronic AG’s investment volume in its site in Schramberg amounts to about 10 million Euro in the years 2010 and 2011. In its fiscal year 2011 alone, the company will invest nearly 8 million Euro which will be used for expanding equipment that renders production processes more efficiently and supports the introduction of latest technologies.

In the past years SCHWEIZER has continuously advanced the development of innovations in the product areas Power Electronics, Embedding and System Cost Reduction. By doing so, the company has geared itself up for mastering its customers’ current and future requirements for technologically premium PCBs.

Beyond the acquisition of a nickel-gold and a nickel-palladium-gold line, which serves for innovative surface finishing, SCHWEIZER has set-up further capacities for milling and depth milling. Only recently an Interposer-Pick-and-Place-System has been put into operation in order to fully automatise Embedding manufacturing. Additionally a new HDI Laser will be running soon. Beyond, a new Masslam Press Centre is near completion.

„We want to be leading in innovative technologies in future, too, and by investing, we are creating the necessary conditions. Our objective is to realize systems via our PCBs that offer more comfort, increase efficiency, use less fuel and cause less CO2 emissions“, explains Dr. Marc Schweizer, CEO of Schweizer Electronic AG. „With good reason our customers expect more than PCBs from us, thus in the meantime our offer encompasses complex systems for applications, that are for example being utilised in the growing area of E-Mobility. Any finally our investment into our site in Schramberg serves to protect and create job in our region. In the past 18 months we were able to create more than 120 new jobs in Germany.“

04.07.2011 | SCHWEIZER pays Dividend of 0.42 Euro

Schramberg, July 4, 2011 – Shareholders present at Schweizer Electronic AG’s annual shareholders’ meeting on July 1, 2011 followed the proposal submitted by the Executive and Supervisory Boards and agreed to pay a dividend of 0.42 Euro per share for the fiscal year 2010. Thus shareholders benefit from the positive course of the business year, which constitutes a starting point for a continuous dividend payment in the coming years.

Beyond the proposal for paying a dividend, the plenum who gathered in Rottweil and who was enlarged by about 90 guests, agreed to all other proposals with a majority of 96 per cent each. With about 110 shareholders, 75 per cent of the share capital was present.

In their speeches Dr. Marc Schweizer, CEO, and Marc Bunz, CFO, reported on a record year in the company’s history. In 2010 the annual turnover increased by 60 per cent to more than 105 Million Euro and with 16,9 Million. Euro EBIT was higher than forecast. SCHWEIZER’s share price increased by 352 % from 5.20 Euro to 23.50 Euro during the course of the year. In the first quarter of 2011, too, SCHWEIZER succeeded in unabatedly continuing the dynamic growth that was started in the past year.

Based on a solid foundation, the company expects further growth. Furthermore, the Executive Board illustrated the focal points of the company’s strategy. It is planned to further expand operations for PCBs and Tracing as well as strategically diversifying the company by additional areas of business. These areas include the division Systems, focussing on the optimisation of drive controls through embedding solutions as well as the creation of the division Energy. For this promising area CEO Marc Schweizer even presented a prototype of a thin-layer battery the size of a finger nail. Together with a partner the innovative Swabian company is currently working on the further development towards series maturity for this product. The partnering company is developing the necessary production equipment and has exclusively secured the battery technology, developed over the past 10 years by a renowned American research company.

Schramberg, June 3, 2011 – Schweizer Electronic AG announces the introduction of the IMS Board. This new and innovative solution for applications in the area of power electronics is able to dissipate high temperatures via the PCB.

In addition to more ampacity, the booming market of power electronics also demands an optimised solution for maximum heat dissipation. Particularly for this purpose materials have been developed that offer a high thermal conductivity and at the same time best electrical insulation. A fully covered, massive metal backside ensures a fast and efficient temperature spreading and thus inhibits hotspots.

Customary Insulated Metal Substrate (IMS) solutions are equipped with aluminium back plates. In contrast, SCHWEIZER recommends the usage of copper which offers essentially better physical characteristics. A significant advantage over aluminium also is that copper is compatible with all PCB processes and allows for different surface coatings and multi-layer build-ups.

„By introducing the IMS Board we are expanding our technology building set by a solution for power electronics. Our offer particularly addresses customers who require optimised high power and heat dissipation solutions“ explains Christian Rössle, responsible for Sales & Marketing at SCHWEIZER.

Beyond the IMS Board, SCHWEIZER offers further optimised technologies for power electronics:

Thick Copper Board of up to 400µ – when higher currents have to be carried by the PCB

Combi Board – high power and signal processing are being combined in a cost-optimised way

Wirelaid™ – a wire-writing PCB for cost optimised high power applications

25.05.2011 | Schweizer Energy Pte. Ltd. founded

Schramberg, May 25, 2011 – Schweizer Electronic AG today announced the foundation of Schweizer Energy Pte. Ltd. based in Singapore. The foundation of this entity, a 100% daughter company of Schweizer Electronic AG, is part of the already communicated company strategy, focussing on the growth region Asia as a supplement to Europe and on the area of renewable energy. The newly created division Energy constitutes a complimentary expansion of the existing divisions PCB and Tracing.

„With Singapore, the economic hub for Asia, we have chosen an ideal location for exploiting the Asian markets“, says Dr. Marc Schweizer, CEO of Schweizer Electronic AG and now also President of Schweizer Energy Pte. Ltd. „Furthermore, process and manufacturing know-how for products and services in the area of energy is similar to the one applied to manufacturing of PCBs“, Schweizer explains. As the world’s biggest PCB manufacturer for the solar industry the company draws upon comprehensive sales experience and market knowledge.

13.05.2011 | SMT Review: SCHWEIZER serves “Future Packaging Line”

Schramberg, May 13, May 2011 – During SMT Hybrid Packaging 2011 tradeshow from May 3 to 5 in Nuremberg, Schweizer Electronic AG for the first time cooperated with Fraunhofer IZM within the framework of a live production line. For this purpose SCHWEIZER provided PCBs which were assembled during the 3-day event within a production line, specifically set-up for demonstration purposes.

The theme of this year’s presentation „Highest Precision on Smallest Batch Sizes“ underlines the increasing requirements of the electronics industry for miniaturization of products while maintaining the same quality. The trend is towards smaller devices with significantly growing functionality. For such requirements SCHWEIZER offers a solution called i² Board®, integrating active and passive components into the inner PCB. Numerous visitors of the tradeshow booth were impressed by the company’s innovative solutions.

SCHWEIZER takes positive stock of the SMT. „For us the tradeshow appearance within the common booth of Fraunhofer IZM was an excellent solution that we plan to maintain in future. We will present our full range of services in detail during our Customer Day at the end of June at our site in Schramberg “, explains Dr. Marc Schweizer, CEO of Schweizer Electronic AG. „True to our motto ‚more than PCBs’, our customers will then have the opportunity to get on-site insights into our production, our broad scope of products and solutions and our cooperation partners.“

02.05.2011 | SCHWEIZER successfully started into the Fiscal Year 2011

Schramberg, May 2, 2011 – In the first quarter 2011 Schweizer Electronic AG also succeeded in unabatedly continuing the dynamic growth they began in the past year. After the past Fiscal Year had already been completed with record figures, sales in the first quarter of 2011 even significantly exceeded expectations. With Sales of 29.1 (previous year. 23.9) mio. Euro, a plus of 22 % compared to the corresponding quarter of the previ-ous year, the company impressively underlines this.

Sales generated via the partner network could also be significantly increased and were, with 2.7 mio. Euro, fourfold higher compared to the corresponding quarter of the previous year. This is particularly impressive against the background of the catastrophe in Japan as the strategic partner Meiko Electronics Co., Ltd. had been affected by the impacts of the Tsunami and the nuclear catastrophe. As SCHWEIZER is exclusively being served by the Chinese factories of MEIKO, this does not have any effect on the operational cooperation between both companies.

Following temporary supply shortages in the previous year, SCHWEIZER’s Management strongly focussed on the improvement of delivery reliability for customers in the past months. Investments in bottleneck areas as well as the introduction of an optimized production planning system significantly improved delivery reliability. For orders which are extremely urgent the company introduced a Fast Path Lane.

In the meantime SCHWEIZER comes up with an excellent structure of the balance sheet. The ongoing profit situation is accompanied by an enhanced debt relief of the company. Net Gearing only amounted to 7 % of own capital. Equity ratio is at 50 % (previous year 30 %). Total property of SCHWEIZER has grown to 78.8 (previous year 54.2) mio. Euro.

Despite pending challenges the company looks positively at the development of the current Fiscal Year. SCHWEIZER encounters possible uncertainties with regards to a truly self-supporting global upswing, recent incidents in North Africa and Japan and further cost pressure through increasing prices on the procurement side with a continuously low fixed cost base and flexible cost structures.

„We are in good shape and have the skills as well as the expertise to also continue our successful journey in a slowed-down growth environment.“, says Dr. Marc Schweizer, CEO of Schweizer Electronic AG.

Against this background the company expects a sales increase to up to 110 to 120 mio. Euro with an EBIT margin of 9 % to 10 % (Q1/2011: 9%) for Fiscal Year 2011. Thus the predicted sales correspond to a growth of 5 % to 15 % compared to the previous year.

Last week SCHWEIZER published their annual report for the Fiscal Year 2010.

Schramberg, April 1, 2011 – Nicolas-Fabian Schweizer (36), qualified lawyer, today resumes his position as Chief Human Resources Officer with Schweizer Electronic AG as of today. He had been appointed by the Supervisory Board on July 27. In his new function he is responsible Human Resources and Legal.

Nicolas-Fabian Schweizer comes with long-term international experience in the areas of Law, Human Resources and organisational development. He completed an education in Law in Germany, Switzerland and the U.S.A. Following positions as a lawyer, legal counsel and Director Human Resources he was recently member of the European Human Resources Management of British American Tobacco Group.

18.03.2011 | Natural catastrophe in Japan has no impact on Schweizer Electronic’s ability to supply

Schramberg, March 18, 2011 – One week after occurrence of the natural catastrophe in Japan, Schweizer Electronic AG assures their customers ability to supply without restrictions. At the beginning of this week the company reported a production stop in two plants of its strategic cooperation partner Meiko Electronics. Schweizer’s customers will not be negatively affected by this incident as the plants in China and Vietnam, relevant for the cooperation, have not been impacted. Due to their significant size, those plants will even be able to take over production of the inoperative sites based in Japan.

The situation in Japan has currently no impact on our production in Schramberg. We purchase material from there (e.g. spare parts for our production lines) and the supply is secured for a foreseeable time frame. Schweizer’s Sales Forecast for the year 2011 – an in-crease in sales of 5% to 15% compared to 2010 – remains unchanged.

After a consultation with the company’s auditors, a change in the valuation of the participation financing in Meiko Electronics is not deemed necessary.

Schramberg, March 14, 2011 – The earthquake in Japan has affected the sites Fukushima, Miyagi and Yamagata of Schweizer Electronic’s cooperation partner Meiko Electronics Co., Ltd. The company’s Executive Board is in contact with Yuichiro Naya (President & CEO) and Takahide Hirayama (COO) of Meiko. Due to restrictions caused by damaged infrastructure it is still unclear whether and to which extent employees of Meiko, living and working at sites in the Northern parts of the country, have been affected.

Due to disruptions in electricity supply, production in the plants in Fukushima and Yamagata were stopped. The Miyagi plant has been hit by the Tsunami. Meiko provides information about the current situation on the website www.meiko-elec.com.

Customers of Schweizer Electronics AG will not be negatively affected by this incident as products manufactured within the network are being received from Meiko's sites in China and Vietnam.

"We sympathize with our colleagues and their families and sincerely wish that no one has been harmed" says Dr. Marc Schweizer, CEO of Schweizer Electronic AG. "We therefore feel an urgent need to provide assistance in a quick and unbureaucratic manner. We have thus set-up an aid fund for affected Meiko employees and their families. This fund will be initially equipped with means provided by Schweizer Electronic AG amounting to 10,000,000 JPY. We also appealed to our staff to contribute by donating and we are convinced that they will demonstrate their solidarity."

Further information concerning the donation account are available on our Internet page www.morethanPCBs.com.

Beyond this first aid measure, Schweizer's Executive Board has assured Meiko's Management its continued support over the coming weeks and months.

Schramberg, February 7, 2011 – Schweizer Electronic AG, No. 3 of Europe’s PCB manufacturers, will close the Financial Year 2010 with the highest sales in its 161 year-old company history. Based on preliminary figures, the technology company achieved sales of 105.4 Mio. Euro (previous year 65.8 Mio. Euro) in 2010, thus sales were 60% abo-ve those in 2009.

The profit situation of Schweizer Electronic, too, has significantly improved. Earnings be-fore Interest and Tax (EBIT) were with 16.9 Mio. Euro and a margin of 16 % clearly above target. Adjusted by special items, EBIT was at 13.1 Mio. Euro respectively at 12.5 %. „Based on the excellent results in 2010, we will propose to the Supervisory Board to distribute a dividend of 0.42 Euro per share “, says Marc Bunz, CFO of Schweizer Elec-tronic.

The final figures will be published on April 27, 2011 and explained during an investor and press conference on May 4, 2011.

The company profits from its strategic positioning and the growth in Asia which creates and secures jobs in Germany. Consequently Schweizer’s number of employees increased – compared to a low in mid 2009 – within about one and a half years by 103 to 741 persons employed.

Following the very positive development, employees - who made concessions in the past years – will participate in the company’s success. This includes the reactivation of various income components. Furthermore, a salary increase of 3%, originally planned for spring 2011, has been pulled forward to January 1, 2011. For the staff this is the highest income improvement in the past 8 years.

Furthermore, Schweizer Electronic has increased its expenditure for research, develop-ment and investments by 56%. Spending was at about 4.1 Million Euro (previous year 2.6 Million EUR) and will serve the enlargement of the product portfolio, the optimization of production and the strengthening of the site Schramberg.

For 2011 the company anticipates a continuation of the global upswing which might, however, lose is dynamics. With a view to the market segments, an increase of sales revenues of between 5 % and 15 % is expected for Fiscal Year 2011. This forecast also draws on the fact that Schweizer starts the Fiscal Year 2011 with orders in hand of more than 120 Mio Euro.

Schweizer’s management does, however, not intend to rest on their last year’s successes. The „Turnarounder of the Year 2010“ is currently reviewing options to diversify into new business areas.

09.11.2010 | High Power PCB meets High Power Connector - Schweizer and Weidmüller present an optimized PCB connection technology at Electronica

High Power PCB meets High Power Connector -Schweizer and Weidmüller present an optimized PCB connection technology at Electronica

Munich, November 9, 2010 - Schweizer Electronic AG and Weidmüller Interface GmbH & Co. KG present a combination of an intelligent connection technology and a high power solution called „Keep Cool Connector“ on the occasion of the tradeshow „Electronica“. Schweizer is well-known for numerous solutions in the field of power electronics where high currents and an improved thermal management for PCBs are required. Weidmüller is a leading international provider of solutions for electrical connectivity, transmission and conditioning of power, signal and data in industrial environments.

Schweizer’s approach of creating a matching current and thermal management for every PCB application and thus realizing the best possible solution for customers is now consistently continued with by Weidmüller’s PCB connection technology.

For Schweizer’s solutions Inlay Board, Wirelaid™ (in combination with Jumatech) and Combi Board, Weidmüller now offers the matching connection technology with plug-in connectors and clips. This technology enables the connection to the PCB with a lowest possible electrical and thermal resistance (Rth).

Advantages at a glance:

- more connection capacity: 6 connection cross-sections from 0,08 to 35mm² - more current capacity: more than 100 A at 40° environmental temperature (IEC) - more voltage: grid 3,50 - 15,00 mm up to 1000V (IEC) resp. 600V (UL) - more freedom in creativity: 3 conductor outlet directions (90 / 135 / 180°) - more packing density: single line and multiple line housings plus TOP-connection - more process security: capable of reflow due to characteristics of system, ATEX-certified - more individuality in printing, colour and connection technology- less installation and service efforts- less space requirements

For customers this means no compromises are necessary in design-in as the components of Schweizer are being adapted to the customers’ application and not vice versa, as is often the case. The „Keep Cool Connector“ is presented on Schweizer’s booth 442 in Hall B1 at Electronica.

28.10.2010 | Schweizer Electronic AG appointed "Turnarounder of the Year 2010"

Rising like a Phoenix - Schweizer Electronic AG appointed "Turnarounder of the Year 2010"
Schramberg, October 28, 2010 – During a festive ceremony yesterday in Bertelsmann’s Berlin based representative office Schweizer Electronic AG’s CEO, Dr. Marc Schweizer received the award "Turnarounder of the Year 2010".

Schweizer Electronic AG was nominated in the category companies with up to 1,000 employees as they succeeded in being back in the black after a perennial crisis. Literally rising like a phoenix the company was consequently resurrected based on an adjusted strategy, after a fire in 2005 burnt down a big part of the production areas. The years of reconstruction were marked by severe cuts: the close-down of a second manufacturing site, the reduction of workforce by a one-fifth, the optimization of business and production processes and the termination of unprofitable business areas. The economic crisis hit the company in the middle of the restructuring process, leading to a loss of six million Euro in the first half of 2009. The turnaround eventually began to show at the end of last year, supported by a consistent implementation of the company strategy, a close cooperation with banks and the foundation of a partner network.

„I accept this award on behalf of our employees“, says Dr. Marc Schweizer. „We express a big ‘Thank You’ as this prize is a result of their engagement, creativity and loyalty, particularly during the years of crises. Economic success can only be achieved if everyone contributes to it and our staff proved this in an impressive way. Given our improved economic situation, we will ultimately be able to reward our workforce. Our appreciation also includes our customers, suppliers, banks and partners for their long-term loyalty and successful cooperation.“

Together with his fellow board members Marc Bunz (CFO) and Bernd Schweizer (COO) Dr. Marc Schweizer is currently planning further strategic steps within the company’s core business printed circuit boards (PCB), but also towards diversification and optimization of the value chain. Corresponding decisions and measures are expected to being taken within the coming quarters.

The award „Turnarounder of the Year“ is granted by auditing company BDO and the business magazine ‚impulse’ and honours the performance of German companies whose management and staff succeeded in maintaining company and jobs despite a difficult economic situation. The prize is awarded in three company size categories, i.e. up to 500, up to 1,000 and more than 1,000 employees.

In July Schweizer Electronic AG reported in their mid-year financial report a significant increase in revenues by 80% and is expecting a turnover of about 90 to 100 million Euro for 2010. This successful growth is also based on a cooperation with their partner Meiko Electronics. Within the last two years the company’s share price increased from 2 Euro to a current price of around 26 Euro.

Following the strategic alliance with regards to customer support and production that Schweizer Electronic AG and Meiko Electronics Co., Ltd., Japan announced in April 2009, both companies today emphasize the stability and the sustainability of this cooperation’s strategic relevance by concluding a contract concerning mutual shareholding.
On September 21, 2010 Schweizer Electronic AG signed a share purchase agreement with Meiko Electronics Co., Ltd., Japan. By this share purchase agreement Schweizer Electronic AG sells to Meiko Electronics Co., Ltd. 180,000 own shares of Schweizer Electronic AG which had been purchased in accordance with the resolution passed by the shareholders’ meeting on June 27, 2008. At the same time Schweizer Electronic AG concluded an agreement with Meiko Electronics Co., Ltd. according to which Schweizer Electronic AG purchases 313,600 shares of Meiko Electronics Co., Ltd. The volume of this transaction amounts to about 4.7 Mio. Euro. As the volumes are equating, no outflow or inflow of liquidity are resulting from this transaction.

The Supervisory Board of Schweizer Electronic AG, Schramberg, decided on 27/07/2010 to appoint Nicolas-Fabian Schweizer (35), graduate in law, Chief Human Resources Officer (CHRO) of the company effective 01/04/2011 for a term of 5 years as part of the strategic corporate development program.

Around 200 shareholders and guests attended this year’s Shareholders’ Meeting of Schweizer Electronic AG. Approximately 78% of the stock capital were represented. All resolutions proposed by the Management were adopted unanimously or by a large majority of votes.

14.01.2010 | Press Release of 14.01.2010

Schweizer Electronic is active in the field of medical technology with its own product and has agreed to a strategic cooperation with Siemens Austria in RFID Tracking und Tracing
You can find here our press release with pictures as a pdf-file